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Meta-Analysis
. 2012;7(9):e45264.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045264. Epub 2012 Sep 20.

Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in mainland China: a meta-analysis

Lei Liu  1 , Xiaomei Wu, Limin Liu, Jin Geng, Zhe Yuan, Zhongyan Shan, Lei Chen
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in mainland China: a meta-analysis

Lei Liu et al. PLoS One. 2012.

Abstract

Background: Although diabetic retinopathy (DR) is considered to be a major cause of blindness, this is the first meta-analysis to investigate the pooled prevalence of DR in mainland China.

Methodology/principal findings: We conducted a search of all English reports on population-based studies for the prevalence of DR using Medline, EMbase, Web of Science, Google (scholar), and all Chinese reports were identified manually and on-line using CBMDisc, Chongqing VIP database, and CNKI database. A meta-analysis was carried out. The fixed effects model or random effects model was used as a statistical test for homogeneity. Nineteen studies were included. The prevalence of DR, non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in the pooled general population was 1.3% (95%CI: 0.5%-3.2%), 1.1% (95%CI: 0.6%-2.1%), and 0.1% (95%CI: 0.1%-0.3%), respectively, but was 23% (95%CI: 17.8%-29.2%), 19.1% (95%CI: 13.6%-26.3%), and 2.8% (95%CI: 1.9%-4.2%) in the diabetic group. The prevalence rate of DR in the pooled rural population was higher than that in the urban population, 1.6% (95%CI: 1.3%-2%), and the diabetic population, 29.1% (95%CI: 20.9%-38.9%). The prevalence of DR was higher in the Northern region compared with the Southern region.

Conclusions/significance: The prevalence of DR in mainland China appeared a little high, and varied according to area. NPDR was more common. This study highlights the necessity for DR screening in the rural areas of China.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow chart demonstrating those studies that were processed for inclusion in the meta-analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2. A forest plot displaying the pooled prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the population of mainland China.
Figure 3
Figure 3. A forest plot displaying the pooled prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the diabetic population of mainland China.
Figure 4
Figure 4. A forest plot displaying the pooled prevalence rates of NPDR and PDR (A, NPDR in general mainland China population; B, NPDR in diabetic population; C, PDR in general mainland China population; D, PDR in diabetic population).
Figure 5
Figure 5. A funnel plot of studies conducted on the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in mainland China.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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