Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Nearly all patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus develop diabetic retinopathy (DR) within 20 years of diagnosis. It is the second largest cause of blindness in those of working age in the UK. Several risk factors have been accepted by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, including gender, duration of diabetes, glycaemic control, blood lipid profile, blood pressure, and renal impairment.

Aim: To study the epidemiology of DR and its associated risk factors in Children and Young People (CYP) with type 1 diabetes mellitus under care of East Cheshire NHS Trust (ECNT).

Method: Retrospective comparison of risk factors with the development of DR in all CYP aged 12–18 years between March 2013 and April 2014 was carried out. The variables analysed were gender, HbA1c, and duration of diabetes.

Results: 7/44 (16%) had a positive retinopathy screen. All of them had background retinopathy (R1). 57% were females and the rest were male. All seven of them were on Multiple Daily Injections (MDI regime). Age at diagnosis was under five in majority (57%) of them, with only one of them diagnosed after the age of 10. The average HbA1c for the group that developed retinopathy was 90 mmol/mol compared to 76 mmol/mol for the rest of the group.

Conclusion: Results show a positive correlation between duration of diabetes, poor glycaemic control and DR, supporting previous acceptance of these variables as risk factors. However, in contrast to the suggested increased risk of DR in males, females within the population are more likely to have diabetic retinopathy.