Is aspirin usage associated with diabetic retinopathy?

The relationship between the history of aspirin usage and diabetic retinopathy is examined in this report. The study population consists of a sample of people (n = 1370) who developed diabetes mellitus after 30 yr of age, who lived in south-central Wisconsin, and who participated in the Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy. These participants were questioned about recent and past use of aspirin. There was no association between the number of aspirin used in the month before the exam and the severity of diabetic retinopathy. Three hundred thirty-eight of these individuals reported taking aspirin daily for at least 3 mo since they were diagnosed as having diabetes. There was no association between the severity of retinopathy and having used aspirin in this way. These analyses suggest that aspirin usage, as herein described, is unrelated to the severity of diabetic retinopathy in older-onset diabetic patients.