School of Public Affairs, Baruch College, The City University of New York, New York, New York 10010, USA.
Am J Prev Med. 2012 Jul;43(1):48-54. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2012.02.028.
Diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are two of the most common eye diseases in the U.S. Effective treatments exist for some stages of these conditions.
This goal of this study was to examine the frequency and predictors of unawareness of diabetic retinopathy and AMD.
The 2005-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected digital retinal images of survey participants aged ≥40 years that were graded for diabetic retinopathy and AMD using standard protocols. A sample of individuals with diabetic retinopathy was created, as was a separate sample of individuals with AMD. Individuals were categorized as unaware of their condition if they did not report that they had the condition. Separate logistic regression models of unawareness of diabetic retinopathy and AMD were estimated in 2011.
This study estimated that 73% of individuals with diabetic retinopathy and 84% of individuals with AMD were unaware of their condition. The odds of unawareness of diabetic retinopathy were higher for individuals with less-severe diabetic retinopathy, shorter diabetes duration, smaller families, or who had not had a recent eye exam. The odds of unawareness of AMD were higher for individuals with "early" AMD or who were younger, less educated, or not primarily English speakers.
The very high frequency of unawareness of diabetic retinopathy and AMD suggests that unawareness of these conditions should be a major public health concern and that efforts are needed to increase the frequency of eye exams among those at risk for these conditions.
糖尿病视网膜病变和年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）是美国最常见的两种眼部疾病。对于这些疾病的某些阶段，存在有效的治疗方法。
本研究旨在调查糖尿病视网膜病变和 AMD 患者的知晓率及其影响因素。
2005-2008 年全国健康与营养调查（NHANES）采集了年龄≥40 岁的调查参与者的数字视网膜图像，这些图像采用标准方案对糖尿病视网膜病变和 AMD 进行分级。创建了一个患有糖尿病视网膜病变的个体样本，以及一个患有 AMD 的个体样本。如果个体没有报告他们患有该疾病，则将其归类为对其疾病不知情。在 2011 年分别估计了糖尿病视网膜病变和 AMD 知晓率的逻辑回归模型。
本研究估计，73%的糖尿病视网膜病变患者和 84%的 AMD 患者不知道自己的病情。糖尿病视网膜病变程度较轻、糖尿病病程较短、家庭规模较小或最近未进行眼部检查的个体，其对糖尿病视网膜病变不知情的可能性更高。患有“早期”AMD 或年龄较小、受教育程度较低或非英语为主要语言的个体，对 AMD 不知情的可能性更高。
糖尿病视网膜病变和 AMD 患者的高知晓率表明，对这些疾病的不知情应该成为一个主要的公共卫生问题，需要努力增加这些疾病高危人群的眼部检查频率。
