Diabetes Metab J.  2020 Dec;44(6):928-932. 10.4093/dmj.2020.0096.

Diabetic Retinopathy and Related Clinical Practice for People with Diabetes in Korea: A 10-Year Trend Analysis

• Chung YR
• Ha KH
• Lee K
• Kim DJ

• KMID: 2513056
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4093/dmj.2020.0096

Abstract

We performed a retrospective cohort study including people diagnosed with diabetes from 2006 to 2015 according to the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort database, to analyze the changes in the prevalence, screening rate, and treatment patterns for diabetic retinopathy (DR) over 10 years. The proportion of people who underwent fundus screening for DR steadily increased over the past decade. The prevalence of DR increased from 13.4% in 2006 to 15.9% in 2015, while that of proliferative DR steadily decreased from 1.29% in 2006 to 1.16% in 2015. The proportion of patients undergoing retinal photocoagulation constantly decreased. The prevalence of DR increased over the past decade, while its severity seemed to have improved, with a decreased rate of proliferative DR and retinal photocoagulation. A higher proportion of patients underwent ophthalmic screening using fundus examination, but still less than 30% of patients with diabetes underwent comprehensive examination in 2015.

Keyword

Cohort studies; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetic retinopathy; Diagnostic screening programs

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Screening rate and prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) among patients with diabetes stratified by sex in 2006 to 2015.

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  Fig. 2 Proportions of treatments among patients with diabetic retinopathy stratified by the treatment modality in 2006 to 2015.

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