Rates of vision impairment may be on the rise again after years of falling, according to a new analysis presented at the 2022 meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and described in a press release from the organization.
Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are linked to eye problems like diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to vision loss. It’s important for people with diabetes to get regular eye exams, since early detection of certain problems can help prevent vision loss — by getting treatment or taking other steps to prevent eye problems from worsening. Vision problems are also linked to other poor health outcomes, including worse cardiovascular health in people with type 2 diabetes and even worse COVID-19 outcomes. In addition to optimizing your blood glucose control, there may be other lifestyle measures that can help reduce your risk or vision loss, such as following a healthy diet.
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For the latest analysis, researchers looked at data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over 20 years from 1999 to 2019. Over the course of this period, there was a slight decline in the proportion of people with diabetes who reported vision impairment — from 21.5% to 20.7%. But a closer look at the data — looking at three-year averages in responses — painted a slightly different picture.
Possible increase in people with diabetes experiencing vision impairment
Between 1999 and 2012, the age-standardized three-year moving average proportion of people with diabetes who reported vision impairment fell from 21.5% to 17.7%. But then from 2012 to 2018, this number rose again from 17.7% to 20.7%. These trends indicate that improvements in halting vision loss in people with diabetes have at the very least leveled off, and that the trend may now be going in the direction of greater vision loss.
“While our findings of an increasing trend over the last decade did not reach statistical significance, it could be an early warning that trends in vision impairment among those with diabetes are headed in the wrong direction,” said study author Elizabeth Lundeen, PhD, a senior scientist in the Vision Health Initiative at CDC, in the press release. “Additional research will help us better understand the causes of this recent upward trend and design effective interventions to prevent vision loss in individuals with diabetes around the country.”
Future research, the researchers noted, should keep an eye on these trends and try to identify potential causes of worsening vision loss in people with diabetes — such as changes in blood glucose control, vision screening, or receiving other health care services — in order to design interventions that could help more people with diabetes maintain their vision.
Want to learn more about keeping your eyes healthy with diabetes? Read “Diabetic Eye Exams: What to Know,” “Eating for Better Vision and Healthy Eyes,” and “Keeping Your Eyes Healthy” and watch “Diabetes and Your Eyes.”
