Ajeet Kumar, Rajesh Motwani, Muhammad Ishaq Ghauri, Nahida Begum, Faiza Saeed, Syed Maaz Salahuddin, Ishaq Shaikh.
Diabetic retinopathy: association with type and duration of diabetes mellitus, mode of treatment and glycaemic control.
Ann Abbasi Shaheed Hosp Karachi Med Dent Coll Jan ;18(2):86-91.

Objective: To assess the association of Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) with type and duration of Diabetes Mellitus, mode of treatment and glycaemic control. Mehtods: An observational study was carried out. Patients with the diagnosis of either Type1, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or Type 2, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) were enrolled into the study through non-probability, convenient sampling method from Jinnah Medical College Hospital Karachi from July 2012 to March 2013. Thorough history and physical examination was done on each patient. Glycaemic control was assessed by glycosylated Hb level (HbAlc). All information so collected was entered into a proforma. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 108 patients were examined. Out of these, 33 (30.6%) had Type 1 and 75 (69.4%) had Type 2 diabetes. In Type 1 group, 18 (54.5%) were female while in Type 2 group, 37 patients (49.3%) were female. In Type 1 group, 60.6% (n=20) had DR compared to 37.3% (n=28) in Type 2 group (p <0.005). DR. was seen less frequently in subjects with less than five years duration in both the groups i.e. 12.6% in Type 1, and 15.7% in the Type 2 group. This increased to 100% (p<0.001) in Type 1, and 77.7% (p<0.02) in the Type 2 group with a duration of over 20 years of diabetes. In patients on insulin therapy, 60.6% in Type 1 group and 53.1% subjects in Type 2 had DR. In Type 2 group, 25.6% subjects on oral hypoglycaemics and/or diet therapy had DR. None of the subjects in both groups with HbA1c <7% had any evidence of DR. Conclusion: The frequency of DR. is higher in patients with Type 1, than those with Type 2, in patients receiving insulin therapy and with long duration of diabetes. Higher levels of HBA1c have clear relationship with development of DR.

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