Diabetic retinopathy detected in about 7% of adult Chinese
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This population-based study, including 4439 subjects aged >40 years from rural and urban regions of Greater Beijing participating in the Beijing Eye Study, was designed to evaluate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and its impact on visual impairment. Diabetic retinopathy (minimum defining criterion being the presence of at least one microaneurysm) was detected in 6.5% of the whole study population. While most cases of diabetic retinopathy (91.9%) were of the mild type, eleven subjects (3.9%) had the moderate nonproliferative type, and 12 subjects (4.2%) had the proliferative type. Of the whole study population, one subject was blind as a result of diabetic retinopathy. The presence of a diabetic retinopathy was linked to age, self-reported diagnosis of hypertension and hyperlipidaemia. In conclusion, diabetic retinopathy was detectable in about 7% of adult Chinese aged >40 years. Compared with Western populations, visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy was on the other hand relatively less common in this adult Chinese population, accounting for 8% of all blindness in this study population.
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