Refractive Error in a Chinese Population with Type 2 Diabetes: A Report from the Fushun Diabetic Retinopathy Cohort Study

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To describe the prevalence and risk factors for refractive errors in a northeastern Chinese population with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

Subjects (age ≥30 years) from a community-based study, the Fushun Diabetic Retinopathy Cohort Study, were enrolled. All subjects underwent comprehensive ocular examinations, including autorefraction. Myopia, high myopia, and hyperopia were defined as a spherical equivalent (SE) of the right eye <−0.5 diopter (D), <−5.0D, and >0.5D, respectively. Astigmatism was defined as cylinder <−0.5D in a minus cylinder prescription. Anisometropia was defined as a difference of SE >1.0D between two eyes.

Results

A total of 1929 participants (790 males, 41.0%) were enrolled. The age and gender standardized prevalence of myopia, high myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, and anisometropia were 43.1% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 40.9%–45.3%), 8.5% (95% CI: 7.3%–9.8%), 21.5% (95% CI: 19.7%–23.4%), 61.0% (95% CI: 58.9%–63.2%), and 17.2% (95% CI: 15.5%–18.9%), respectively. Advancing age was associated with a higher frequency of hyperopia, astigmatism, and anisometropia, as opposed to a lower frequency of myopia. Female (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.27; 95% CI, 1.02–1.57) participants, higher intraocular pressure (aOR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.00–1.07), and lenticular opacity (aOR, 1.53; 95% CI, 1.20–1.94) were also found to be associated with myopia. Long duration of diabetes (>15 years) was found to be a significant factor for astigmatism (aOR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.15–2.27) and anisometropia (aOR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.29–2.71).

Conclusion

Nearly two-thirds of participants with type 2 diabetes had a refractive error. Age is a common factor with different types of refractive errors.

KEYWORDS:

• Myopia
• refractive error
• type 2 diabetes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LQ18H120004), the Wenzhou Basic Medical and Health Technology Project (Y2020364), and the Liaoning Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (20170540328).