Abstract
Aim: To study the frequency of diabetic retinopathy in a population of patients and to evaluate the medical risk factors underlying its development.Methods: A case series study conducted at the out patient clinic of Al Jamhoury teaching hospital and at a private clinic in Mosul, during the period from Jan. 2005 to Dec. 2006.One hundred and seventy patients with diabetes were randomly selected by ophthalmologist. They were referred by physicians after they did diabetic profile by history and medical examination. The WHO definition of diabetic retinopathy was recommended, several risk factors were searched for during the evaluation of the patients.Results: the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was 32.35%, 20% in type I diabetes, and 80% in type 2 diabetes and surprisingly both of which had equal rate of retinopathy in this population. 80% did not know about the need of regular dilated fundus examination. The mean age was 50 years old ranging from 25-67 years, with 65% between the ages of 50-65 years old and the standard deviation was ( 10.95). Male to female ratio was 1:1.5 with equal rates of retinopathy (29.4% vs 34.3%). The retinopathy rate was highest in the age group 50-59 years (37%). The rate of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, proliferative diabetic retinopathy and diabetic maculopathy were 18.8%, 12.9% and 14.5% respectivelyThe rate was higher among subjects with longer duration of diabetes, higher fasting plasma glucose, and cases with hypertension.Conclusion: Public education is essential about the need for routine and regular dilated fundus examination for diabetic patients in addition to glycemic control; lowering diastolic blood pressure (in hypertensive patients) may be effective in lowering the incidence of retinopathy in compromised patients.
