Nsiah-Kumi Phyllis, Ortmeier Stacie R, Brown Amy E
General Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska 68198-4085, USA.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2009 May;101(5):430-7. doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30929-9.
Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the United States. This sight-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority populations. Tight glycemic control and routine eye screening can diminish the public health impact of this devastating condition in minority communities. However, racial and ethnic minority patients are more likely to have poorer glycemic control and are less likely to be screened for diabetic retinopathy than their white counterparts. Patient, provider, and health care system factors play a role in these disparities. While public health interventions are necessary on a large scale to preserve vision in minority communities, it is also essential that individual health care providers better understand the impact of diabetic retinopathy on minority communities and the available interventions to reduce its impact. Maximizing their efforts to improve diabetes-related vision care for their racial and ethnic minority patients can lead to a decrease in diabetic retinopathy disparities.
糖尿病性视网膜病变是美国失明的主要原因。这种糖尿病的视力威胁性并发症对少数族裔人群的影响尤为严重。严格的血糖控制和常规眼部筛查可以减轻这种破坏性疾病对少数族裔社区的公共卫生影响。然而，与白人患者相比，少数族裔患者血糖控制更差，接受糖尿病性视网膜病变筛查的可能性更小。患者、医疗服务提供者和医疗保健系统因素在这些差异中都起到了作用。虽然大规模的公共卫生干预对于保护少数族裔社区的视力是必要的，但个体医疗服务提供者更好地了解糖尿病性视网膜病变对少数族裔社区的影响以及可用的减少其影响的干预措施也至关重要。最大限度地努力改善对少数族裔患者的糖尿病相关视力护理，可以减少糖尿病性视网膜病变的差异。
