Prevalence and associations of diabetic retinopathy in a large cohort of prediabetic subjects: The Gutenberg Health Study

AimsTo evaluate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy/maculopathy (DR/DMac) and its associations with cardiovascular risk factors (CRF) in participants with prediabetes (PwPD) in a large European cohort within the population-based Gutenberg Health Study (GHS).MethodsThe study was based on a sub-cohort of the GHS (n = 5,000, age: 35–74 y). Prediabetes was diagnosed according to HbA1c levels (5.7–6.4%). DR/DMac was graded from fundus photographs. Blood samples and comprehensive questionnaires served for evaluation of laboratory results and CRF.ResultsThe prevalence of prediabetes was 22.4%, and of DR/DMac 8.1%/0.2%, respectively. The majority of participants had mild DR (7.2%). A percentage of 0.5 of PwPD presented with moderate and 0.3% with severe non-proliferative disease. None of the subjects had proliferative DR.No independent association was found between any of the analyzed CRF [hypertension, smoking, (family) history of myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, coronary heart disease, stroke, obesity, dyslipidemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peripheral artery disease and chronic kidney disease] and DR.ConclusionsAlthough prevalences of prediabetes and DR in this Caucasian cohort are considerable, retinopathy findings are mainly mild, and no association was found for DR/DMac and CRF.