Biomedical and psychiatric risk factors for retinopathy among children with IDDM.
OBJECTIVE
Illness duration and glycemic control influence the development of retinopathy in childhood-onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Psychiatric disorders and sociodemographic factors also affect diabetes-related outcomes. However, biomedical and psychosocial factors have not been examined together in modeling the risk of retinopathy.


METHODS
We conducted a single-site prospective longitudinal study of 66 children (aged 8-13 years) newly diagnosed with IDDM. Repeated assessments served to derive psychiatric diagnoses. Poor glycemic control was defined as the upper 15th percentile of all HbA1 values. After a median follow-up of 10 years, severity of retinopathy was determined. It was modeled with a stepwise polychotomous regression procedure using antecedent biomedical and psychosocial variables.


RESULTS
Young adults with childhood-onset IDDM were found to be at increased risk of retinopathy the longer they had IDDM, the more persistently they evidenced poor antecedent glycemic control, and the longer they suffered from depressive illness. These three factors operated individually and additively, with duration of IDDM conferring a baseline level of risk. In depressed patients (27%), depression onset antedated the detection of retinopathy generally by 7 years.


CONCLUSIONS
Duration of childhood-onset IDDM confers a baseline level of risk of retinopathy irrespective of glycemic control; antecedent clinical depression is also a risk factor. Depression therefore may serve as a marker of vulnerability and help to identify a subgroup of patients at risk for complications. The findings raise the question whether timely treatment of depression could forestall diabetic retinopathy.
Kovacs
M
M
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania, USA.
Mukerji
P
P
Drash
A
A
Iyengar
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors
D001786:Blood Glucose; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin