Keeping good vision with diabetic retinopathy: a nursing responsibility

African Americans are nearly twice as likely to have diabetes mellitus than White Americans (Padonu, 1994). Diabetic retinopathy affects approximately 11 million Americans, which means that statistically, almost two-thirds of them are Black. It is the leading cause of blindness in persons age 20-74, and accounts for over 5,000 new cases annually (Smith, 1992). Blindness is 25 times more common in diabetics than in nondiabetics (Harris, 1987). The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy increases with the duration of the diabetes. Many studies of patients with type 1 diabetes diagnosed under the age of 30 have reported a direct relationship between prevalence and severity (AAO, 1989).