Frequency of retinopathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of retinopathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients.
METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted on 130 consecutive newly diagnosed diabetes patients who received out patient care at the diabetes clinic of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and one private diabetic clinic from June 2006 to December 2006. Patients who were 25 years or older and recently diagnosed as type 2 diabetics, were included in the study. Patients who had type I diabetes, andwere already on diabetic medication were excluded from the study. Every patient underwent a detailed eye examination. Diabetic retinopathy was diagnosed on the basis of presence of lesions like microaneurysms, clinically significant macular oedema (CSMO), dull foveal reflex, venous beading and occasional dot blot haemorrhages.
RESULTS: The study comprised of 130 patients with a mean age 43.2 +/- 10.2 years, 66.9% of the patients were males. Overall, 15% (95% CI 14.7, 15.3) patients were found to have diabetic retinopathy within two months of diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
CONCLUSION: The frequency of retinopathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was high in this study. This underlines the importance of detailed ophthalmic examination of all patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus at the time of diagnosis.