| Characteristic | Triamciolone (n = 43) | Laser (n = 45) | ||
| No. (%) | n | No. (%) | n | |
| Male | 28 (65.1) | 32 (71.1) | ||
| Left eye | 22 (51.2) | 29 (64.4) | ||
| Type II diabetes | 43 (100.0) | 44 (97.8) | ||
| Caucasian | 17 (39.5) | 22 (48.9) | ||
| Proliferative diabetic retinopathy | 8 (19.5) | 2 | 8 (17.8) | |
| Hypertensive | 40 (93.0) | 36 (80) | ||
| Current smoker | 1 (2.4) | 1 | 4 (8.9) | |
| Posterior vitreous detachment | 6 (15) | 4 | 8 (17.8) | 7 |
| Pseudophakia | 8 (18.6) | 6 (13.3) | ||
| Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | |||
| Age | 62.3 (7.5) | 64.8 (10.1) | ||
| Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | |||
| Previous laser | 3 (2 to 4) | 2 (2 to 4) | ||
| Duration of diabetes (years) | 15 (10 to 21) | 13 (8 to 20) | ||
| Duration of clinically significant macular oedema (months) | 27 (15 to 48) | 23.5 (12 to 31) | ||
| Duration of visual loss (months) | 12.5 (10 to 22) | 18.5 (9 to 24) | ||
| Glycosylated haemoglobin | 7.8 (7 to 8.7) | 7 (6.5 to 8.1) | ||
IQR, interquartile range; n, number of cases for which data are missing on a particular characteristic.