[A meta-analysis of prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in China]

Objective: To analyze and summarize the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in China, and provide scientific evidence for its prevention and intervention. Methods: Literature search of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Wanfangdata, Vip and CNKI between 1990 and 2020 was performed to retrieve epidemiological studies of DR in China. The total prevalence of DR was analyzed by performing a meta-analysis, and the prevalences of DR in different regions and age groups were also evaluated by subgroup analyses. Results: A total of 40 studies were enrolled. The total sample size of the general population was 282 620, and the total number of diabetic patients was 47 022. The prevalence of DR in the general population and diabetic patients was 1.7% (95%CI: 1.4%-2.0%) and 22.4% (95% CI: 18.8%-26.1%), respectively. The highest prevalence of DR was found in patients aged 50-59 years (22.1%). Among the diabetic population, the prevalence of DR was high in North (27.7%) and Northeast China (23.7%), but the East China had the largest estimated number of DR patients (4 971 000). Moreover, the prevalence of DR in rural areas (34.0%) was higher than that in urban areas (18.7%). Conclusions: The prevalence of DR is high in Chinese diabetic population, and there are differences among regions and age subgroups. The results of the current meta-analysis emphasize the necessity of DR screening for diabetic population, especially in rural areas.