Assessment for the Correlation Between Diabetic Retinopathy and Metabolic Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study

In this study, we explored the correlation between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) among diabetes mellitus (DM) patients.

Logistic regression analysis was utilized to test the effects of MetS and its indicators on the incidence of DR and vision-related functional burden. The spline smoothing functions of continuous indicators of MetS were used to establish the logistic generalized additive model (GAM). The effective degree of freedom (EDF) =1 was served as a sign of linear relationship. EDF>1 was a sign of a more complex association between MetS and DR.

The proportion of difficulties of looking for objects on the crowded shelves in the DR group was higher than that in the non-DR group (19.40 vs 12.10, P<0.05). Elevated fasting glucose (Glu) and blood pressure levels were related to the vision-related functional burden. The risk of DR development increased by 6% [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-1.09, P<0.001] and 1% (95% CI: 1.01-1.02, P=0.004) per 1 unit increase in Glu and systolic blood pressure (SBP) of DM patients, respectively. In the univariate GAM, Glu had a linear effect on DR (EDF=1, P<0.001) with a positive correlation after controlling SBP. And there was a nonlinear correlation between SBP and DR after controlling Glu (EDF=2.44, P=0.024).

Both Glu and blood pressure were associated with the occurrence of DR and vision-related functional burden. Controlling the levels of Glu and blood pressure may reduce the risk of DR and vision loss among DM patients.