Overview of Epidemiologic Studies of Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy has been an important cause of blindness in young and middle age adults in the United States. Epidemiologic studies have quantitated the risk and have described potentially causal factors associated with many ocular complications of diabetes and other facets of this disease. A review of recent advances in diagnosis, treatment, temporal trends, and health care for diabetic retinopathy was conducted. Since the early 1980's, there have been studies of the variability of diabetic retinopathy in populations around the world and subpopulations in the United States which have demonstrated the high prevalences and incidences of this condition. Observational studies and clinical trials have…