Prevalence of Severely Impaired Visual Acuity among Diabetic Patients in Fukuoka Prefecture with Special Emphasis on Diabetic Retinopathy: A Survey by the Fukuoka Diabetes Clinic Group

Abstract

From December 1981 to January 1982, 3841 diabetic patients were seen in 16 diabetic clinics in Fukuoka Prefecture. Among them, 3289 diabetics had been examined for the presence of ophthalmological complications during the past year, and 979 cases (29.8%) had diabetic retinopathy, in which the proliferative type manifested itself in 152 cases (4.6%). Of 3841 diabetics in our clinics, there were 275 cases (7.2%) with severely weakened visual acuity (assessed by corrected acuity below 0.1), of which 153 cases (4.0%) resulted from diabetic retinopathy. Of these, 92 (2.4% of total diabetics) had visual defects in both eyes. Analyses on these 153 cases revealed several features, i.e. there were 10 cases with maculopathy and 4 cases with secondary rubeotic glaucoma, the age of the patients was 55.9±11.5 (mean±s. D.) years, and the presumed duration of diabetes, time lapse until appearance of visual defect(s) from onset of diabetes and the untreated period were 13.8±6.6 (a = 150), 10.5±6.0 (n = 124) and 4.2±4.9 (n = 101) years, respectively. © 1983, Tohoku University Medical Press. All rights reserved.