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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 Apr 4;19(4):e0296998.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296998. eCollection 2024.

Prevalence and incidence of diabetic retinopathy in patients with diabetes of Latin America and the Caribbean: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sebastian A Medina-Ramirez  1 , David R Soriano-Moreno  1 , Kimberly G Tuco  1 , Sharong D Castro-Diaz  1 , Rosa Alvarado-Villacorta  2 , Josmel Pacheco-Mendoza  3 , Marlon Yovera-Aldana  4   5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prevalence and incidence of diabetic retinopathy in patients with diabetes of Latin America and the Caribbean: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Sebastian A Medina-Ramirez et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to assess the prevalence and incidence of diabetic retinopathy in patients with diabetes of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Methods: We searched Web of Science (WoS)/Core Collection, WoS/MEDLINE, WoS/Scielo, Scopus, PubMed/Medline and Embase databases until January 16, 2023. We meta-analyzed prevalences according to type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Results: Forty-three prevalence studies (47 585 participants) and one incidence study (436 participants) were included. The overall prevalence of retinopathy in patients with T1DM was 40.6% (95% CI: 34.7 to 46.6; I2: 92.1%) and in T2DM was 37.3% (95% CI: 31.0 to 43.8; I2: 97.7), but the evidence is very uncertain (very low certainty of evidence). In meta-regression, we found that age (T1DM) and time in diabetes (T2DM) were factors associated with the prevalence. On the other hand, one study found a cumulative incidence of diabetic retinopathy of 39.6% at 9 years of follow-up.

Conclusions: Two out of five patients with T1DM or T2DM may present diabetic retinopathy in Latin America and the Caribbean, but the evidence is very uncertain. This is a major public health problem, and policies and strategies for early detection and opportunely treatment should be proposed.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flow diagram summarizing the process of literature search and selection.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Latin American and the Caribbean countries by type of diabetes.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Results of risk of bias assessment.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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