title: Risk factors of retinopathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus at a tertiary care hospital, Bahawalpur Pakistan.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To find out the risk factors of diabetic retinopathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  METHODS
  It was a cross-sectional study involving 300 patients of type 2 diabetes. Clinical history, relevant examination including fundoscopy and lab investigations were done. Data was analysed with SPSS 17.0. T-test and chi square/Fischer exact were applied to determine significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age of the patients was 49.04 ± 0.69 years with slight female predominance with male to female ratio of 3:4. Average duration of disease was 7.17 ± 0.38 years. Diabetic retinopathy was diagnosed in (74, 23.9%). Mean HbA1c was 8.15% in patients with retinopathy and 8.884% in those who had no retinopathy (p=0.08). However, duration of DM, age of patients, male gender, high total cholesterol, high LDL and microalbuminuria were significantly associated with the development of retinopathy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diabetic retinopathy was found in 23.9% of type 2 diabetics. It was associated with duration of disease, age at presentation, male gender, high total cholesterol, high LDL and microalbuminuria. A single high level of HbA1c was not associated with retinopathy.
authors.affiliation: Sadiq Hussain, Department of Pathology, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College (QAMC), Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sadiq
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Rashad Qamar, Department of Ophthalmology, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College (QAMC), Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Rashad
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Qamar
authors.affiliation: Muhammad Arshad Iqbal, Department of Pathology, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College (QAMC), Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Arshad
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Iqbal
authors.affiliation: Ameer Ahmad, Department of Paediatrics, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College (QAMC), Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ameer
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Ehsan Ullah, Department of Pathology, Quaid-e-Azam Medical College (QAMC), Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ullah
keywords: Cholesterol; Diabetic retinopathy; HbA1c; Microalbuminuria; Type 2 diabetes mellitus