title: Review of the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Indigenous Australians.
abstract: The purpose of this review is to compare the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians with Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Australian DR prevalence data from 6 Indigenous studies (n = 2865) and 5 non-Indigenous studies (n = 9801) conducted between 1985 and 2013 were included for analysis. Estimated prevalence of any DR among Indigenous Australians with DM was 23.4% compared with 28.9% for non-Indigenous Australians (χ(2)  = 26.9, P < 0.001). In studies performed after 1990, a significantly higher rate of diabetic macular edema was found in Indigenous compared with non-Indigenous Australians with DM (7.6% versus 4.9%, χ(2)  = 6.67, P = 0.01). Although there are limitations in comparing these studies, one explanation for the observed data could be a model in which Indigenous Australians are relatively resistant to early stage DR, but with a subset progressing to sight threatening DR due to individual genetic and environmental susceptibility factors coupled with poor glycemic control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Flinders University, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kaidonis
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Landers
authors.forename: Stewart R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lake
authors.forename: Kathryn P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Burdon
authors.forename: Jamie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Craig
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: Aboriginal Australian; diabetic retinopathy; epidemiology