Frequency of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) in Diabetic Patients and Comparison of Various Systemic Parameters that Increase its Risk with and without Diabetic Macular EDEMA
Keywords:
Diabetes Mellitus, Macular Edema, Optical Coherence, Tomography.Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of DME in diabetic patients presenting for ophthalmology assessment and to compare systemic parameters that contribute to the development of DME between patients with DME and those without DME.
METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Sindh Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in Hyderabad, Pakistan, from January to June 2024. A total of 118 diabetic patients were assessed for the presence of DME using optical coherence tomography. Patients with and without DME were assessed for various systemic parameters. Among these, quantitative systemic parameters were compared among patients using the Mann-Whitney U test, while qualitative systemic parameters were compared using the chi-square test.
RESULTS: Median age was 35.50 (9.00) years. There were 82 (69.50%) males and 36 (30.50%) females. Median BMI was 30.15 (6.02) kg/m2. Median duration of diabetes was 5.00 (2.00) years. DME was present in 34 patients (28.80%). Upon comparison of systemic parameters, it was found that there was a significant difference between patients with and without DME in low-density lipoprotein levels (p = 0.005), glomerular filtration rate (p = 0.024), and the frequency of co-existing hypertension (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: In this study, DME was found in nearly one-third of patients, underscoring its significant burden in the local diabetic population. It was also observed that elevated LDL, reduced GFR, and co-existing hypertension were significantly associated with DME, while other systemic parameters showed no significant differences.
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