Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is as old as the human race. Retinopathy, being one of complications of diabetes mellitus, is the most common cause of blindness. This study was aimed at analyzing the correlation between retinopathy and duration of disease, metabolic control, and obesity.
Material and methods: The study sample consisted of 135 patients divided into the experimental group of 90 patients with retinopathy and the control group of 45 patients without retinopathy. The patients were exa- mined according to standard protocols: anamneses, endocrinology, ophthalmology exams, biochemical analyses, and anthropometric measurements.
Results: The average age of patients was 60.13 +/- 9.29 in the experimental group, while it was 57.55 +/- 4.85 in the control group. The average duration of disease was 11.71 +/- 5.8 and 14.40 +/- 7.68 in the control group experimental group, respectively. The following statistically essential differences between the control and experimental group were found: in duration of disease (11.71 +/- 5.85; 14.40 +/- 7.68; r = 0.000), in glycemia (7.02 +/- 2.20; 8.34 +/- 3.18; p = 0.000), in glycosylated hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) (7.16 +/- 1.37; 8.22 +/- 2.05; r = 0.000), in triglycerides (1.92 +/- 0.72; 2.63 +/- 1.60; r = 0.001), and in body mass index (23.94 +/- 2.65; 27.66 +/- 15.13; r = 0.000).
Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between duration of disease, glycosylated hemoglobin A1C, triglycerides, body mass index - obesity and retinopathy. A significant statistical correlation among those parameters has been found in patients with diabetic retinopathy.