Prevalence and risk factors for diabetic retinopathy: the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008-2011.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the prevalence and risk factors for diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a representative Korean population.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study involved 16,109 subjects aged >40 years who had participated in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey from 2008 to 2011. Seven standard retinal fundus photographs were obtained after pupil dilatation from both eyes. The DR was graded using the modified Airlie House classification system. Risk factors for DR and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy (VTDR) were evaluated, including age, sex, diabetes duration, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), hypertension, lipid profiles, and refractive error.


RESULTS
Of the 16,109 eligible individuals participating in the study, 14,595 (90.6%) had fasting blood glucose results available. Of these, 2023 (13.8%) were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Among these, gradable photographs were available for 1678 subjects (82.9%), including 1323 subjects with known diabetes mellitus (KDM) and 355 with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus (NDM). The prevalences of any DR and VTDR were 15.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.1-17.5), and 4.6% (95% CI, 3.6-5.6), respectively. Any DR was associated with a longer duration of diabetes (odds ratio [OR], 1.08; 95% CI, 1.06-1.10), higher HbA1C level (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.28-1.80), higher systolic blood pressure (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03), and lower body mass index (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87-0.96) in a multivariate analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
We provide data on the prevalence and risk factors for DR in a representative Korean population. The prevalence of any DR and VTDR in the Korean population was lower than that reported previously. The condition of DR was associated with a longer duration of diabetes, poor glycemic control, and higher systemic blood pressure.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, St. Vincents' Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Suwon, Korea.
Donghyun
D
Jee
Won Ki
WK
Lee
Seungbum
S
Kang
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors
Korean; diabetic retinopathy; duration of diabetes; hemoglobin A1c; hypertension; prevalence; vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy