Objective:
This study aimed to determine the prevalent types and clinical characteristics of DR among Saudi patients aged 50 years and above with diabetes who presented to various departments at King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (KAMC-R).
Methods:
This retrospective cross-sectional study included 305 patients with diabetic retinopathy previously diagnosed and documented. Data were collected from available electronic records from January 2018 to December 2020 following diagnosis.
Results:
The prevalence of different types of DR was as follows: background retinopathy (54.43%), proliferative retinopathy (23.93%), pre-proliferative retinopathy (18.36%), and advanced ophthalmic disease and/or maculopathy (3.28%). Among the affected patients, 53.11% were male, and 46.89% of the patients were female. The mean age and HbA1c were 64.29 ± 8.33 years and 8.55 ± 1.61 percent, respectively. The most prevalent comorbidity was hyperlipidemia (89.2%), followed by hypertension (87.9%) The least common comorbidity was nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which was present in only seven cases (2.3%). There was a significant association between DR types and HbA1c levels, as patients with maculopathy exhibited the highest HbA1C levels (p-value=0.021).
Conclusion:
The most common type of DR among patients seen at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) was background retinopathy. Significant risk factors for DR were hyperlipidemia and hypertension. However, due to the homogeneity of the study population, further studies are needed to identify potential patterns in different settings and patient groups.
Key words: Screening, risk factors, prevalence, diabetic retinopathy, Saudi Arabia.
|
