Relationship between fasting glucose and retinopathy for diagnosis of diabetes: results from a population-based study in urban and rural China.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the fasting plasma glucose cutoff of 7 mmol/L and the presence of retinopathy in a population in China.


METHODS
The Beijing Eye Study 2006 is a population-based study, which included 3,251 subjects aged >or= 45 years. By using fundus photographs, retinopathy was assessed according to the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study.


RESULTS
The correlation between fasting plasma glucose concentration and retinopathy suggested a continuous relation instead of a uniform glycemic threshold for prevalent retinopathy. For the diabetes plasma glucose concentration cutoffs of 7.0 mmol/L, 5.6 mmol/L, and 7.8 mmol/L to differentiate between subjects with or without retinopathy, the sensitivities were 18.8%, 44.0%, and 15.4%, respectively, and the specificities were 94.3%, 73.8%, and 96.6%, respectively. After excluding subjects with known diabetes and/or subjects on antidiabetic treatment, the sensitivities of diabetes plasma glucose concentration cutoffs of 7.0 mmol/L, 5.6 mmol/L, and 7.8 mmol/L to differentiate between subjects with or without retinopathy were 7.9%, 34.2%, and 6.3%, respectively, and the specificities were 96.5%, 77.1%, and 98.1%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Confirming a recent study from Australian and North American populations, the results suggest that also for the Chinese population, a uniform glycemic threshold for prevalent retinopathy does not exist.
Jonas
Jost B
JB
Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital University of Medical Science, Beijing, China.
Xu
Liang
L
Xie
Xi Wei
XW
Wang
Ya Xing
YX
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D001786:Blood Glucose