RESEARCH ARTICLE Prevalence and Cardiovascular Associations of Diabetic Retinopathy and Maculopathy: Results from the Gutenberg Health Study

Objective Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in people of working age. The purpose of this paper is to report the prevalence and cardiovascular associations of diabetic retinopathy and maculopathy (DMac) in Germany. Research Design and Methods The Gutenberg Health Study (GHS) is a population-based study with 15,010 participants aged between 35 at 74 years from the city of Mainz and the district of Mainz-Bingen. We de-termined the weighted prevalence of DR and DMac by assessing fundus photographs of persons with diabetes from the GHS data base. Diabetes was defined as HbA1c 6.5%, known diagnosis diabetes mellitus or known diabetes medication. Furthermore, we ana-lysed the association between DR and cardiovascular risk factors and diseases. Results Overall, 7.5 % (1,124/15,010) of the GHS cohort had diabetes. Of these, 27.7 % were un-aware of their disease and thus were newly diagnosed by their participation in the GHS