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Risk factors associated with diabetic retinopathy in South Asian patients

The study aims to explore how various factors, such as physical activity and socio-economic factors, compare with other known factors such as duration of diabetes, and age of the patient, as risk factors for sight threatening diabetic retinopathy (STR) in a group of South Asians. The presence/absence of retinopathy (STR) was determined in 262 Asians with type II diabetes. Relevant clinical information including age, duration, HbA1c levels, insulin-requiring and hypertension were also obtained. A structured questionnaire examined other specific factors including demographics, socio-economic status and lifestyle issues. Factors that were significant with univariate analysis were then included in the multivariate analysis. Odds ratios were computed for significant variables. As expected, older Asians with longer duration of diabetes were more likely to have STR than younger patients with shorter duration. Interestingly, the odds ratio for preventable factors such as physical activity were also shown to be significant, and slightly higher than for duration and age. Interventions into some of these preventable risk factors may prevent further complications of diabetes in Asians.