Regional analysis of diabetic retinopathy and co-existing social and demographic factors in the overall population of Poland

Abstract

Introduction The aim of our study was to analyze the regional differences in diabetic retinopathy (DR) prevalence and its co-existing social and demographic factors in the overall population of Poland in the year 2017. Material and methods Data from all levels of healthcare services at public and private institutions recorded in the National Health Fund database were evaluated. International Classification of Diseases codes were used to identify patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and with DR. Moran's I statistics and Spatial Autoregressive (SAR) model allowed to understand the distribution of DR prevalence, and its possible association with environmental and demographic exposures. Results In total, 310,815 individuals with diabetic retinopathy (DR) were diagnosed in the year 2017 in Poland. Of them, 174,384 (56.11%) were women, 221,144 (71.15%) lived in urban areas, and 40,231 (12.94%) and 270,584 (87.06%) had type 1 and type 2 DM, respectively. The analysis of the SAR model showed that the significant factors for the occurrence of DR in particular counties were a higher level of average income and a higher number of ophthalmologic consultations per 10,000 adults. Conclusions The analyses of social, demographic, and systemic factors co-existing with DR revealed that the level of income and the access to the ophthalmologic and diabetic service are crucial in DR prevalence in Poland.

Keywords

• diabetic retinopathy
• diabetes mellitus
• epidemiology
• public health
• moran’s i statistics