Optical Coherence Tomography–Based Prevalence of Diabetic Macular Edema and its Associated Risk Factors in Urban South India: A Population–Based Study

ABSTRACT

Background

To estimate the prevalence of optical coherence tomography (OCT)-defined diabetic macular oedema (DME) in urban South Indian population and to elucidate their associated risk factors.

Methods

Of 911 participants from the Sankara Nethralaya Diabetic Retinopathy and Molecular Genetics Study-II (SN-DREAMS-), 759 who underwent OCT were analysed. The participants underwent a comprehensive examination and retinal photography following a standard protocol for diabetic retinopathy (DR) grading. The subjects were categorized into centre-involving DME (CI-DME), non-centre involving DME (NCI-DME), and No-DME based on the mean retinal thickness at the central 1 mm, inner and outer ETDRS subfields.

Results

The prevalence of CI-DME and NCI-DME in the Chennai population was 3.03% (95% CI: 3.01–3.05) and 10.80% (95% CI: 10.7–11.02). NCI-DME was found to be higher by 9.5% (95% CI: 0.07-0.11) in the early stages of DR. A greater number of subjects with CI DME were aged >60 years and had diabetes mellitus (DM) for >10 years. The significant risk factors for NCI-DME are diastolic blood pressure, serum total cholesterol, serum triglyceride, insulin use and neuropathy (OR (95% CI): 0.97 (0.94–100), 1.00 (1.00–1.01), 0.99 (0.98–0.99), 2.32 (1.15–4.68) and 4.24 (1.22–14.69), respectively) and for CI DME are duration of diabetes, anaemia, neuropathy and insulin use (OR (95% CI): 2.49 (0.96–6.40), 3.41 (1.34–8.65), 10.58 (1.68–66.56) and 3.51 (1.12-10.95), respectively).

Conclusions

The prevalence of NCI-DME was found to be higher than that of CI-DME in patients with DR.

KEYWORDS:

• Prevalence of DME
• CI-DME
• NCI-DME

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [Dr Rajiv Raman], upon responsible request.

Disclosure statement

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

Previous submissions

1. Ophthalmology retina: Rejected (did not undergo peer review)

2. Retina: Rejected (did not undergo peer review)

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Jamshetji Tata Trust, which is a trust based in Mumbai.