Background:The objective of this study is to evaluate epidemiological risk factors for development of diabetic retinopathy.Methods:The cases of type-2 diabetes mellitus attending Melaka Manipal medical college, Malaysia were retrospectively reviewed. The epidemiological characteristics of diabetic retinopathy were estimated. The cases were graded according to degree of retinopathy in to: non-diabetic retinopathy group and diabetic retinopathy. Clinical and biochemical studies were used for studying the risk factors associated with development of retinopathy.Results:The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in the population was 21% in known diabetic subjects and was significantly higher in men than in women (21.3% vs. 14.6%) with increasing age and duration of diabetes. Ethnicity is a complex, independent risk factor for diabetic retinopathy. Sight threatening diabetic retinopathy, and clinically significant macular edema was higher in people of Malaysia (20%) when compared with Chinese (16%) and Indonesians (12%). In all, 55 percent of patients with known diabetes mellitus had never undergone an eye examination. Among patients who had undergone eye examinations, 32.8 percent had the last examination within the last one year, 49.8 percent within the last one to two years, and 17.4 percent more than two years ago.Conclusion:Diabetic retinopathy is highly prevalent in the patients with type-2 diabetes mellitus in Malaysia. Besides blood glucose, many factors are associated with the present and development of diabetic retinopathy.
