Incidence of diabetic eye disease among migrants: a cohort study of 100,000 adults with diabetes in Denmark

AIMS: To examine the incidence rates of any and referable diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Denmark among migrants.

METHODS: Nationwide clinical data on diabetes patients followed since 2005. Patients were classified according to country of origin into six groups: Denmark, other Europe, Sub Saharan Africa, Middle East/-North Africa, Asia, and America. 93,780 or 110,897 patients without any (include unspecific diagnoses) or referable (proliferative) DR at baseline were analyzed. We estimated event rates and hazard ratios (HRs) for incidence of any- and referable DR according to country of origin.

RESULTS: After an average follow-up of 3.59 years 6,727 had incident any DR and 4,747 patients had referable DR. Compared to Danish, migrants from the Middle East/-North Africa and Asia had a higher risk of any and referable DR after adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, smoking status, types and duration of diabetes, HbA1c, study center, blood pressure and lipid levels. The associations remained significant after further adjustment for frequency of eye screening.

CONCLUSIONS: Migrants from the Middle East/-North Africa and Asia showed higher risk of incidence of any and referable DR compared to Danish, and these differences were not fully explained by differences in underlying clinical, diabetic and cardiometabolic risk factors.