Nine-year incidence of diabetic retinopathy in the Barbados Eye Studies.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the 9-year incidence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a population with the same ancestry as African Americans.


METHODS
Participants with diabetes mellitus and gradable photographs at the 9-year examination were evaluated (n = 436). The incidences of minimum/moderate/severe DR, clinically significant macular edema (CSME), and sight-threatening DR (severe DR plus CSME) were defined by the development of specific diabetic changes in persons without those conditions at baseline. Progression was defined as the development of severe/proliferative DR in persons with minimum/moderate DR at baseline.


RESULTS
The 9-year DR incidence was 39.6% (38.0% for minimum, 9.0% for moderate, and 2.6% for severe/proliferative DR). Incidence tended to increase with diabetes duration and treatment. Of persons with preexisting DR at baseline, 8.2% progressed to proliferative DR. The CSME incidence was 8.7%, and it increased with diabetes duration, accounting for most of the overall incidence of sight-threatening DR.


CONCLUSIONS
The study provides new data on long-term incidence among persons of African origin. Results suggest a possible lower risk of severe/proliferative DR than in whites, while CSME incidence seems comparable or higher. The main component of sight-threatening DR was CSME, highlighting the importance of DR as a cause of vision loss in this population.
Department of Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-8036, USA. cleske@notes.cc.sunysb.edu
M Cristina
MC
Leske
Suh-Yuh
SY
Wu
Anselm
A
Hennis
Barbara
B
Nemesure
Andrew P
AP
Schachat
Leslie
L
Hyman
Ling
L
Yang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001460:Barbados / Q000453:epidemiology; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D001741:Black or African American