Assessment of diabetic retinopathy in newly diagnosed black Kenyan type 2 diabetics.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence and pattern of diabetic retinopathy in newly diagnosed black African patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and the associated risk factors. DESIGN Cross-sectional hospital-based study. SETTING Eye clinic of Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya. SUBJECTS Africans aged 20 years and above with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus of up to 12 months duration. RESULTS One hundred and forty one eyes of 71 patients were included in this study, while slides of 92 eyes of 65 patients were of good enough quality for evaluation. The mean duration of diabetes was 11.7 weeks (SD 16.6) and 11.3 (SD 10.1) in men and women respectively. Overall, the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and clinically significant macula oedema was 30.4% and 8.7% respectively. There was a positive association between diabetic retinopathy and systolic blood pressure. CONCLUSION The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in newly diagnosed Africans with type 2 diabetes in Kenya is very high. This suggests longstanding undiagnosed diabetes.