Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in Brazil: a systematic review with meta-analysis

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Brazilian adults with diabetes mellitus via a systematic review with meta-analysis.

Methods: A systematic review using PubMed, EMBASE, and Lilacs was conducted, searching for studies published up to February 2022. Random effect meta-analysis was performed to estimate the DR prevalence.

Results: We included 72 studies (n = 29,527 individuals). Among individuals with diabetes in Brazil, DR prevalence was 36.28% (95% CI 32.66-39.97, I² 98%). Diabetic retinopathy prevalence was highest in patients with longer duration of diabetes and in patients from Southern Brazil.

Conclusion: This review shows a similar prevalence of DR as compared to other low- and middle-income countries. However, the high heterogeneity observed-expected in systematic reviews of prevalence-raises concerns about the interpretation of these results, suggesting the need for multicenter studies with representative samples and standardized methodology.