Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in young adults with type 1 diabetes since childhood: the Oulu cohort study of diabetic retinopathy.

PURPOSE:To evaluate the prevalence and stage of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a population-based cohort of young Finnish adults who have had type 1 diabetes (T1D) since childhood. MATERIAL AND METHODS:The cohort includes all 5- to 16-year-old patients with T1D who lived in the Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District of Finland, in 1989 (n = 216). DR was evaluated from fundus photographs taken in 1989-1990 and again in 2007. The patients were 7 ± 4 years age (range 0-15 years) at the time of diagnosis of T1D, and the average duration of diabetes at the re-evaluation was 23 ± 4 years (range 17-32 years). RESULTS:The prevalence of DR was analysed in 172 patients (80% of the original cohort) at 22-35 years. Proliferative DR (PDR) was observed in 35% (60/172) and non-proliferative DR in 59% (101/172), with no signs of DR being present in the remaining 6% (11/172) of the subjects. The prevalence of DR did not differ by gender (p = 0.356). CONCLUSIONS:After the 18-year follow-up, a high prevalence of DR and PDR (94% and 35%, respectively) was found in patients who have had T1D since childhood, with no difference between the genders.