Relationship between Diabetic Retinopathy and Subclinical Hypothyroidism: a meta-analysis

Several epidemiological studies have found a positive association between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH), but the findings are varied or even contradictory. In the work, we performed a meta-analysis to ascertain the relationship between DR and SCH. We searched relevant studies on the relationship between DR and SCH. All English reports were used Medline, EMbase, Web of Science, Google scholar, and all Chinese ones used CBMDisc (Chinese Biochemical Literature on Disc) and CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) database. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.1 software. We obtained eight observational studies. Random-effects meta-analysis indicated a significant association between DR and SCH (odds ratio = 2.13, 95% confidence interval = 1.41 – 3.23, p < 0.001). Based on currently evidence, SCH is probably a significant risk factor for DR.