Risk of falls up with mild, moderate diabetic retinopathy

(HealthDay)—Among Asians, individuals with mild and moderate diabetic retinopathy (DR) are more likely to have fallen, and greater perceived barriers to diabetes self-management (DSM) are associated with the severity of DR, according to two studies published online Nov. 16 in JAMA Ophthalmology.

Preeti Gupta, Ph.D., from Singapore National Eye Centre, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional post hoc analysis of the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases study; they included 9,481 participants in the analysis. The researchers found that 13.2 percent of patients without diabetes, 16.3 percent with no DR, 14.2 percent with minimal DR, 26.2 percent with mild DR, 27.2 percent with moderate DR, and 19.9 percent with vision-threatening DR had a history of falls. Compared to those without diabetes, individuals with DR were more likely to have fallen (odds ratio, 1.31). Individuals with mild or moderate nonproliferative DR were more likely to have fallen compared to those with diabetes but without DR (odds ratios, 1.81 and 1.89, respectively).

Ryan Eyn Kidd Man, Ph.D., from the Singapore National Eye Centre, and colleagues examined the correlation between perceived barriers to DSM and the severity of DR in a population of 361 Asian patients with type 2 diabetes. The researchers found that a greater magnitude of perceived barriers to DSM was correlated with increased odds of having any DR, mild to moderate DR, and severe DR (odds ratios, 1.32, 1.3, and 1.36, respectively). The correlation was independent of diabetes control, presenting visual acuity, and socioeconomic indicators.

"These results suggest that greater perceived barriers to DSM are independently associated with severity of DR," Man and colleagues write.