Assessment for the Correlation Between Diabetic Retinopathy and Metabolic Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study

PURPOSE: In this study, we explored the correlation between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) among diabetes mellitus (DM) patients. METHODS: Logistic regression analysis was utilized to test the effects of MetS and its indicators on the incidence of DR and vision-related functional burden. The spline smoothing functions of continuous indicators of MetS were used to establish the logistic generalized additive model (GAM). The effective degree of freedom (EDF) =1 was served as a sign of linear relationship. EDF>1 was a sign of a more complex association between MetS and DR. RESULTS: The proportion of difficulties of looking for objects on the crowded shelves in the DR group was higher than that in the non-DR group (19.40 vs 12.10, P<0.05). Elevated fasting glucose (Glu) and blood pressure levels were related to the vision-related functional burden. The risk of DR development increased by 6% [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03–1.09, P<0.001] and 1% (95% CI: 1.01–1.02, P=0.004) per 1 unit increase in Glu and systolic blood pressure (SBP) of DM patients, respectively. In the univariate GAM, Glu had a linear effect on DR (EDF=1, P<0.001) with a positive correlation after controlling SBP. And there was a nonlinear correlation between SBP and DR after controlling Glu (EDF=2.44, P=0.024). CONCLUSION: Both Glu and blood pressure were associated with the occurrence of DR and vision-related functional burden. Controlling the levels of Glu and blood pressure may reduce the risk of DR and vision loss among DM patients.