Many youths with diabetes not monitored for diabetic retinopathy by 6 years after diagnosis

Many youths with a diagnosis of diabetes do not receive eye examinations to screen for diabetic retinopathy within 6 years of their diagnosis, according to a study.

A retrospective, longitudinal cohort study focused on patients 21 years and younger who had newly diagnosed diabetes and assessed the rate of obtaining ophthalmic examinations. The study included patients enrolled in U.S. managed care networks from 2001 to 2014.

A cohort of 5,453 patients with type 1 diabetes and a median age of 11 years at diagnosis and 7,233 patients with type 2 diabetes and a median age of 19 years at diagnosis were included. Of these patients, 64.9% of those with type 1 diabetes had received an eye examination by 6 years after their diagnosis compared with 42.2% of those with type 2 diabetes.

“This finding indicates that many youths with diabetes were not undergoing screening for DR as frequently as recommended by professional societies,” the study authors wrote.

According to a survival analysis, white youths (54.7%) and Asian youths (57.3%) were more likely to receive eye examinations by 6 years after diagnosis than black youths (44.6%) or Latino youths (41.6%). Additionally, youths from households with a higher net worth were more likely to receive examinations. – by Robert Linnehan

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.

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Source:

Wang SY, et al. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2017;doi:0.1001/jamaophthalmol.2017.0089.