Study: Diabetes a Top Cause of Vision Loss

In a new study, researchers have concluded that diabetes is now among the top causes for vision loss on a global basis.

A team including researchers from Nova Southeastern University and Anglia Ruskin University set out to estimate global and regional trends of the prevalence and number of persons visually impaired specifically by diabetic retinopathy (DR), as a complication of the precipitous trends in global diabetes. The investigators conducted a meta-analysis of published population studies from 1990 to 2012 for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD).
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In 2010, 0.8 million and 3.7 million of the overall 32.4 million blind and 191 million visually impaired individuals were impaired due to DR, according to the researchers, who note an "alarming increase of 27% and 64%, respectively, spanning the 2 decades from 1990 to 2010. DR accounted for 2.6% of all blindness in 2010 and 1.9% of all moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI) worldwide, increasing from 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively, in 1990. These figures were lower in regions with younger populations than in high-income regions with relatively aging populations.

"The number of persons with visual impairment due to DR worldwide is rising and represents an increasing proportion of all blindness/MSVI causes," wrote the authors, who suggest public policy planning in regions most affected by DR, such as developing strategies for preserving diabetic adults' vision and increasing health education and awareness of the risk of visual loss from DR.

"Age-standardized prevalence of DR-related blindness/MSVI was higher in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia," the researchers continued, adding that "1 of 39 blind people had blindness due to DR, and 1 out of 52 visually impaired people had visual impairment due to DR."

Study co-author Janet Leasher, OD, MPH, a professor at NSU's College of Optometry, urges primary care physicians and other practitioners to "redouble efforts to remind colleagues and patients that the ocular complications of diabetes may be asymptomatic in the early stages, but the consequences can be devastating if left uncontrolled.

"Every person with diabetes should be referred to an optometric physician or an ophthalmologist for comprehensive eye care at least annually, and then as directed for their individual situation," adds Leasher. "Inter-disciplinary communication and coordination of care is essential for every patient. Quality assurance measures require us to report that our patients are getting dilated eye health examinations by a qualified eye care practitioner every year."

—Mark McGraw

Reference

Leasher J, Bourne R, Flaxman SR, et al. Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by diabetic retinopathy: a meta-analysis from 1990 to 2010. Diabetes Care. 2016;39(9):1643-1649.