Lower prevalence of proliferative diabetic retinopathy in elderly onset patients with diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
To assess diabetic retinopathy (DR) prevalence between elderly onset and younger onset diabetes with similar diabetes duration and evaluate the association between DR prevalence and serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels.


METHODS
A total of 1787 patients with diabetes were enrolled between January 2010 and November 2015. Fundoscopy examination was performed. Patients were divided into three groups by age of diagnosis (<45, 45-64, and ⩾65years) for the analysis of the prevalence of DR. Among them, 150 patients underwent serum IGF-1 measurement. The serum IGF-1 level was compared between patients <65years and ⩾65years.


RESULTS
Among 1787 patients, 779 (43.6%) had DR, in which proliferative DR (PDR) 229 (12.8%) patients. For similar diabetes duration, DR prevalence was lower in elderly onset patients. Patients ⩾65years at diagnosis had significantly lowest PDR prevalence of the three groups for similar diabetes duration. IGF-1 levels were lower in patients ⩾65years than in patients <65years (104.89±49.91ng/mL vs. 141.73±62.04ng/mL, P<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Elderly onset patients with diabetes have lower prevalence of PDR than those younger onset patients for similar diabetes duration, which may relate with lower serum IGF-1 levels in older patients. Thus, less stringent glycemic control in older onset patients with diabetes may not increase the prevalence of PDR.
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. Electronic address: zhangsiqin-0109@163.com.
Siqin
S
Zhang
Department of Ophthalmology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. Electronic address: 740230052@qq.com.
Jianglan
J
Wang
West China Medical School of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. Electronic address: 1933769555@qq.com.
Chenxi
C
Song
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. Electronic address: zhuleilei2018@163.com.
Leilei
L
Zhu
Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. Electronic address: yerongyu@scu.edu.cn.
Yerong
Y
Yu
D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
Diabetic retinopathy; Elderly onset diabetes; Insulin-like growth factor 1