Diabetic Retinopathy in Greece: Prevalence and Risk Factors Studied in the Medical Retina Clinic of a Greek Tertiary Hospital

Abstract Purpose: To determine the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME) in a cohort of Greek diabetic patients and identify possible risk factors. Methods: Population-based, non-interventional, cross-sectional study of 300 diabetic Greek patients attending the medical retina clinics of a tertiary hospital. Clinical and imaging data were recorded and statistical analysis was performed. Confidence intervals (CI) at 95% and statistically significant p values ≤0.05 were set.Results: A total of 300 diabetic patients were included. Of these patients, 21 (7%) were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM) type I and 279 (93%) with DM type II. The average duration of diabetes was 15 ± 9.4 years (95% CI, 13.9-16.1) and the mean level of HbA1c was 7.2 ± 1.3 (95% CI, 7.1-7.4) overall. Prevalence of DR was 38.7% (116 patients), only 15 patients (5%) had proliferative DR and diabetic macular edema (DME) was detected in 19 patients (6.3%). In DM type I patients, 52.4% had DR and 9.5% had DME, while in the DM type II group, 37.6% had DR and 6.1% had DME. Binary logistic regression analysis identified duration of diabetes, increased HbA1c and hypertriglyceridemia as potential risk factors.Conclusions: This study is the first one to present the extent and severity of DR and DME in a Greek cohort of diabetic patients and also identify risk factors associated with these entities. Our findings highlight the significance of a properly organized national screening program for the early detection and management of the vision threatening complications of DR.