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Review of the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Indigenous A ustralians
Author(s) -
Kaidonis Georgia,
Mills Richard A,
Landers John,
Lake Stewart R,
Burdon Kathryn P,
Craig Jamie E
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
clinical and experimental ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.3
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1442-9071
pISSN - 1442-6404
DOI - 10.1111/ceo.12338
Subject(s) - indigenous , medicine , diabetic retinopathy , diabetes mellitus , glycemic , diabetic macular edema , ophthalmology , demography , optometry , endocrinology , ecology , sociology , biology
The purpose of this review is to compare the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy ( DR ) between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous A ustralians with Diabetes Mellitus ( DM ). Australian DR prevalence data from 6 Indigenous studies ( n = 2865) and 5 non‐Indigenous studies ( n = 9801) conducted between 1985 and 2013 were included for analysis. Estimated prevalence of any DR among Indigenous A ustralians with DM was 23.4% compared with 28.9% for non‐Indigenous A ustralians (χ 2 = 26.9, P < 0.001). In studies performed after 1990, a significantly higher rate of diabetic macular edema was found in Indigenous compared with non‐Indigenous Australians with DM (7.6% versus 4.9%, χ 2 = 6.67, P = 0.01). Although there are limitations in comparing these studies, one explanation for the observed data could be a model in which Indigenous Australians are relatively resistant to early stage DR , but with a subset progressing to sight threatening DR due to individual genetic and environmental susceptibility factors coupled with poor glycemic control.