Clinical features most frequently present in patients with concomitant diabetic kidney disease and diabetic retinopathy

Objective: To evaluate the profile of patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) with and without concomitant diabetic retinopathy (DR) to identify clinical predictors of the development of both complications together.

Subjects and methods: Cross-sectional study including patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and DKD followed at the endocrinology division of a public hospital in Southern Brazil and referred for retinography assessment. The definition of DR was the occurrence of any diabetes-related damage identified in color fundus photographs under mydriasis. Urinary albumin excretion ≥ 14 mg/L and/or glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/1.73 m² (CKD-EPI equation) were used to define DKD. Factors evaluated included the clinical differences of the participants according to the presence or absence of DR. Multiple regression models were used to identify predictors of DR presence according to the clinical characteristics evaluated.

Results: The study included 517 patients with DKD, 433 (83.7%) of whom had type 2 diabetes (median age 64.7 years [interquartile range 59-73 years] years, 59.8% women, 83.4% white) and 84 (16.3%) had type 1 diabetes (median age 46.6 years [interquartile range 33.5-54.2 years], 46.4% women, 91.7% white). Patients with type 2 diabetes and DR (versus those without DR) were more often on insulin (odds ratio [OR] 3.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.89-7.00), had diabetes for longer (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.07), and had higher systolic blood pressure (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1.00-1.02). No predictors of DR presence were identified in participants with type 1 diabetes.

Conclusion: Among patients with DKD and type 2 diabetes, insulin use, longer diabetes duration, and higher systolic blood pressure level were associated with the presence of DR.