Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences

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ISSN 1681-715X

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Volume 24

October - December 2008 (Part-II)

Number  6


 

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Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy and influence factors
among newly diagnosed Diabetics in Rural and Urban Areas
of Pakistan: Data analysis from the Pakistan National
Blindness & Visual Impairment Survey 2003

Aurangzeb Shaikh1, Faheemullah Shaikh2, Ziauddin Ahmed Shaikh3, Jamshed Ahmed4

ABSTRACT

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among newly diagnosed adult diabetics from the data set of Pakistan National Blindness survey 2003.

Methodology: We analyzed the data collected from the Pakistan National Blindness Survey, a population based survey with regards to diabetic retinopathy and its risk factors. Descriptive information for each of the variable was derived and distribution was assessed by simple tabulation and cross tabulation. We used Odds Ratio (using Mantel-Haenszel technique) and 95% confidence interval to assess association between the variables.

Results: Among the 16507 subjects (95.3% response rate) 660 (4%) were found to be diabetic. Out of these, one hundred one (15.3%) had diabetic retinopathy. We found a low prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (0.6%) among the subjects aged 30 and above. The risk of diabetic retinopathy was higher in urban diabetic subjects (OR 2.7, with 95% CI 1.08-4.1) as compared to rural areas of Sindh. In addition it was higher in hypertensive (OR 2.77 with 95% CI 1.0-4.1) and in obese (OR 2.2 with 95% CI 1.7-4.2) as compared to subjects with normal body mass index (BMI). The prevalence of blindness in diabetic subjects was 5.9%. There were three hundred forty four (52%) subjects with diabetes with normal vision, 149(22%) subjects were with moderate visual impairment, thirty six (5.9%) subjects were blind and twenty two (3.3%) subjects were with severe visual impairment. About 214 diabetics have hypertension (32.4%), one hundred forty one (21.3%) diabetics are obese.

Conclusion: Our study data suggests lower prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy as compared to other part of the region. There is great need to collect and monitor epidemiological data at district hospital level in order to develop a national annual retinal screening program for diabetic patients in Pakistan.

KEY WORDS: Visual Acuity (VA), Diabetic Retinopathy (Dr), Body Mass Index (BMI), Hypertension.

Pak J Med Sci    October - December 2008 (Part-II)    Vol. 24 No. 6    774-779

How to cite this article:

Shaikh A, Shaikh F, Shaikh ZA, Ahmed J. Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy and influence factors among newly diagnosed Diabetics in Rural and Urban Areas of Pakistan: Data analysis from the Pakistan National Blindness & Visual Impairment Survey 2003. Pak J Med Sci 2008;24(6):774-79.


1. Aurangzeb Shaikh,
FCPS, MCPS, MSc (London), DCEH (LSHTM)
Research Associate,
2. Faheemullah Shaikh, FCPS,
Presently, Senior Registrar, Dept. of Ophthalmology,
LUMHS Eye Hospital,
Hyderabad - Pakistan.
3. Ziauddin Ahmed Shaikh, FRCS, FRCOphth, DO
Professor &Chairman,
4. Dr. Jamshed Ahmed, MBBS, MCPS, FCPS
Assistant Professor
Department of Ophthalmology
Dow University of Health Science,
Karachi - Pakistan.

Correspondence

Dr. Aurangzeb Shaikh,
Prevention and Control of Blindness Cell,
Eye OPD. Civil hospital,
Karachi - Pakistan
Email: zebshaikh@hotmail.com

* Received for publication: August 17, 2008
* Revision Received: August 19, 2008
* Revision Accepted: September 27, 2008



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