The association between age at diagnosis of diabetes and development of diabetic retinopathy and assessment of healthcare access as an effect modifier

Aims: To examine if healthcare access modifies the association between age at diagnosis of diabetes and the prevalence of retinopathy.

Methods: BRFSS 2020 survey data was obtained from 12,198 adults. Participants with missing information in the variables "retinopathy" (N = 569) and "insurance-cost barrier" (N = 75) were excluded. The final sample included 11,556 participants. Age at diagnosis of diabetes was the main exposure and retinopathy was the main outcome. We tested if the main association was different among the insurance-cost barrier variable. Binary logistic regression models were used to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI).

Results: The odds of retinopathy decreased by 22 % in patients 46-64 years-of-age (OR 0.78; 95 CI 0.6-1.0) and 57 % in those 65+ (OR 0.43; 95 CI 0.28-0.65). The odds decreased by 39 % if female (OR 0.61; 95 CI 0.48-0.77). An increase in odds by 86 % (OR 1.86; 95 CI 1.07-3.21) occurred in other non-Hispanics, 50 % (OR 1.50; 95 CI 1.13-1.99) in black non-Hispanics and 70 % (OR 1.70; 95 CI 1.17-2.46) in Hispanics. There was no evidence that age at diagnosis of diabetes and presence of retinopathy varied by insurance cost (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Health professionals may utilize these results to advocate for early disease intervention.