Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Brazil: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Thiago Alves Chagas; Mateus Augusto Dos Reis; Gabriel Leivas; Lucas Porto Santos; Agnes Nogueira Gossenheimer; Gustavo Barreto Melo; Fernando Korn Malerbi; Beatriz D Schaan

doi:10.1186/s13098-023-01003-2

Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Brazil: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Diabetol Metab Syndr. 2023 Mar 2;15(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s13098-023-01003-2.

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Olhos Cristiano Mendonça, Aracaju, SE, Brazil.
² Graduate Program in Medical Sciences: Endocrinology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. mateusaugustodosreis@gmail.com.
³ Graduate Program in Medical Sciences: Endocrinology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
⁴ National Institute of Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment (IATS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
⁶ Endocrine Division, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Brazilian adults with diabetes mellitus via a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Methods: A systematic review using PubMed, EMBASE, and Lilacs was conducted, searching for studies published up to February 2022. Random effect meta-analysis was performed to estimate the DR prevalence.

Results: We included 72 studies (n = 29,527 individuals). Among individuals with diabetes in Brazil, DR prevalence was 36.28% (95% CI 32.66-39.97, I² 98%). Diabetic retinopathy prevalence was highest in patients with longer duration of diabetes and in patients from Southern Brazil.

Conclusion: This review shows a similar prevalence of DR as compared to other low- and middle-income countries. However, the high heterogeneity observed-expected in systematic reviews of prevalence-raises concerns about the interpretation of these results, suggesting the need for multicenter studies with representative samples and standardized methodology.

Keywords: Diabetes complications; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetic retinopathy.