Original articlePrevalence and Risk Factors of Diabetic Retinopathy in Migrant Indians in an Urbanized Society in Asia: The Singapore Indian Eye Study
Section snippets
Study Design and Procedure
The Singapore Indian Eye Study (SINDI) is a population-based, cross-sectional study among 3400 Indian adults aged ≥40 years living in Singapore.14, 15, 16, 17 The term “Singaporean Indians” refers broadly to people from the India subcontinent, including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Sri Lankan origin (e.g., Tamils, Malayalis, Punjabis, Bengalis, and Singhalese) who migrated to Singapore, mostly in the 19th century. Detailed population selection and methodology have been published
Results
Of the 3400 participants, 38.1% (n = 1295) had diabetes; 1.2% (n = 16) were type 1 diabetes and the rest, type 2 diabetes. The age-standardized prevalence of diabetes was 33.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 31.4–35.8). Persons with diabetes were more likely to be older; male; born outside of Singapore; have higher BMI, HbA1c, and blood pressure values; and have lower total cholesterol, and high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels; but were less likely to be smokers (all P<0.05).
Discussion
In this large-scale, population-based study, we showed that both diabetes and DR affect a significant proportion in Asian Indian immigrants in a newly urbanized society—approximately one-third of the population had diabetes and one-third of those with diabetes had DR, which equates to approximately 10% of the general adult population having DR. These prevalence estimates are as high as those reported in Western countries (e.g., 32.4% in the Blue Mountains Eye Study in Australia and 33.2% in the
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2018, Survey of OphthalmologyCitation Excerpt :No significant effect was noted for PDR.157 In a more recent cohort study of 25,454 patients seen between 2010 and 2011, Tao and colleagues found that educational attainment (OR: 0.58 and P < 0.001) and a higher household net income (OR: 0.65 P < 0.001) reduced the incidence of DR.248 This is also true in Singapore, where living in a smaller house and having a smaller income was associated with increased rates of sight-threatening DR.304 A number of studies however report no association or even a paradoxical effect.
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Funded by Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), 08/1/35/19/550 & National Medical Research Council (NMRC), STaR/0003/2008, Singapore.
Manuscript no. 2011-1546.
Financial Disclosure(s): The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any of the materials discussed in this article.