The incidence and prevalence of diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy, their progression to visual impairment and patterns in their intravitreal treatment in the Finnish population

Hanna Heloterä; Martti Arffman; Reijo Sund; Ilmo Keskimäki; Kai Kaarniranta

doi:10.1111/aos.16675

The incidence and prevalence of diabetic macular edema and proliferative diabetic retinopathy, their progression to visual impairment and patterns in their intravitreal treatment in the Finnish population

Acta Ophthalmol. 2024 Mar 24. doi: 10.1111/aos.16675. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Hanna Heloterä^{1

2}, Martti Arffman³, Reijo Sund^{4

5}, Ilmo Keskimäki^{3

6}, Kai Kaarniranta^{1

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
² Roche Oy, Espoo, Finland.
³ Department of Public Health and Welfare, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
⁵ Finance Services Reporting Unit, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
⁶ Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland.
⁷ Department of Ophthalmology, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
⁸ Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.

PMID: 38523129
DOI: 10.1111/aos.16675

Abstract

Purpose: The worldwide prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) continues to increase. As DM is linked to various ophthalmological comorbidities, it is crucial to understand the incidence and the treatment patterns of these complications to minimise the treatment burden for the patient and the healthcare system. This study aims to evaluate the incidence and prevalence of diabetic macular oedema (DME) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and to analyse intravitreal (IVT) treatment patterns and responses in the Finnish population with diabetes.

Methods: A nationwide data register containing details of over 20-year-old individuals with diabetes was used in the analyses.

Results: The incidence and prevalence of DME and PDR among the Finnish population with diabetes either declined or remained stable during 2007-2017 (Incidence rate: DME -40.8%, PDR -65.3%; prevalence rate: DME +4.7%, PDR -11.2%). During the same period, number of persons suffering from diabetes increased by +58.3%. The total number of IVT injections increased by 261.7%; the number of patients receiving IVT treatments increased by 133.6% from 2011 to 2017, reflecting changes in patient numbers in the ophthalmology departments. Furthermore, irrespective of the rising number of patients with diabetes, the numbers with visual impairment declined by 75.8% among DME and by 75.7% among PDR patients in 2007-2017.

Conclusions: Regardless of the considerable increase in the workload of ophthalmology departments, the healthcare system has been able to reduce both the age and sex standardised incidence of DME and PDR among the diabetic population suffering from a visual impairment associated with this disease.

Keywords: FinDM; diabetic macular oedema; proliferative diabetic retinopathy; visual impairment.

Abstract

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