Albuminuria and its Association with Diabetic Retinopathy among Type-2 Diabetic Patients at a Specialized Diabetic Clinic

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is one of the leading non-communicable diseases with an increasing prevalence around the globe. Diabetic Nephropathy and Retinopathy are common complications of diabetes that can be prevented by early interventions.

Objective: To assess the association between micro and macro-albuminuria with diabetic retinopathy in patients having Diabetes Mellitus type-2.

Methodology: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on patients having Diabetes Mellitus type-2, visiting eye clinic at AIMS Diabetes Hospital and Research Center Hayatabad, Peshawar from October 2016 to March 2017. All patients having Diabetes Mellitus type-2 were included in the study using purposive sampling. After taking informed consent from patients, data were collected on a pre-designed questionnaire and analyzed using STATA-14. Linear regression was done for the assessment of an association of albuminuria with diabetic retinopathy and other independent variables.

Results: A total of 141 type-2 diabetic patients were examined. The mean age of participants was 53.4±9.42 years and 73 (51.77%) were female. Of these patients, microalbuminuria was 88 (62.41%) and macroalbuminuria was 26 (18.4%). Overall, the frequency of Diabetic Retinopathy was 93 (65%), in which 62 (43%) were non-proliferative, and 31 (21.9%) were proliferative DR. On multivariate regression analysis, albuminuria was significantly associated with male gender, old age group (60 years and above), overweight, obesity, and occurrence of both NPDR and PDR (p-value <0.05).

Conclusion: Increased level of albuminuria in patients with Diabetes Mellitus type-2 enhances the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy. The risk for developing Diabetic Retinopathy increases with an increase in BMI and age of the patients.