1.Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in central region of the Mongolia
Dovchinjamts Dagvadorj ; Uranchimeg Davaatseren ; Anaraa Toishubai ; Munkhzaya Tsengenbayar
Innovation 2019;13(1-Ophthalmology):24-29
Background:
As a leading cause of blindness in working-aged people, diabetic retinopathy is a
serious threat to quality of life. There is limited information on prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy
among diabetic subjects and its associated factors in a rural setting in developing countries
including Mongolia.
Methods:
Population based cross sectional study included either type 1 or 2 diabetic patients
from Selenge province, Darkhan-Uul province, Tuv province and Dundgovi province, and done
complete eye examination to detect any diabetic retinopathy including fundus examination. We
classified diabetic retinopathy according to the severity and assessed risk factors.
Results:
Totally 1443 persons participated in this study, the overall prevalence of any diabetic
retinopathy was 16.3%, the overall prevalence of macular edema was 2.7%, and the overall
prevalence of vision-threatening retinopathy was 2.2%. In persons with detected diabetic
retinopathy, 85.8% has mild to moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Selenge province
has the most diabetic retinopathy (22.5%) compared to Darkhan-Uul, Tuv, and Dundgovi
provinces (15.3%, p=0.01; 15.1%, p=0.03; 5.5%, p<0.001) respectively. Independent risk factor for
any retinopathy were longer diabetes duration (p<0.001), high systolic blood pressure (p<0.001),
high level of HbA1c (p<0.001), and smoking (p<0.001).
Conclusions
In this study overall prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was 16.3%, and our result
is lower than other studies in Asia. Longer the duration of diabetes, and higher the systolic blood
pressure, HbA1c are related to the development of diabetic retinopathy. We need better control
of the hypertension and diabetes mellitus in the future.