Age related maculopathy and diabetes

To compare the prevalence of age-related maculopathy (ARM) in a sample of diabetic patients with the general population.

Binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy, biomicroscopy, and fluorescein angiography. Retrospective prevalence study; descriptive-observational case-control type. Two different groups were analyzed from a sample of 1000 consecutive files of diabetic patients: 1) 65 to 74 years old (n = 263) and 2) 75 years and older (n = 199). Prevalence was compared to that of the general population in a control group and the following epidemiologic studies: Beaver Dam Eye Study, Framingham Eye Study, Blue Mountains Study, and Rotterdam Eye Study.

In diabetic patients aged 75 or older, prevalence of ARM was as follows: early lesions 2.51% (5/199), late lesions (ARMD) 2.51% (5/199). In comparison, the risk in patients 75 or older is as follows: control group (ARMD): OR 4.79, 95% CI 1.778-12.033, p (Fisher) 0.0005; Beaver Dam Eye Study (ARMD): OR 2.93, 95% CI 1.152-7.450, p (Fisher): 0; Blue Mountains Eye Study (ARMD): OR 3.06, 95% CI 1.208-7.754, p (Fisher): 0; Framingham Eye Study (ARM): OR 6.73, 95% CI 3.041-14.880, p (Fisher): 0; Rotterdam Eye Study: p (Fisher) 0.133.

1) A lower prevalence of ARM was found in the sample of diabetic patients aged 75 or older than in the general population (with the exception of the Rotterdam study). 2) Prevalence of ARM was even lower in diabetic patients presenting diabetic retinopathy, whether or not they had been treated with photocoagulation. 3) In diabetic patients, the exudative form was more frequent than the atrophic form, in an inverse ratio to that of the general population.