Diabetes Care
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by North, R. V.
Right arrow Articles by Owens, D. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by North, R. V.
Right arrow Articles by Owens, D. R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

Diabetes Care, Vol 20, Issue 11 1724-1730, Copyright © 1997 by American Diabetes Association

ARTICLES

Visual function in young IDDM patients over 8 years of age. A 4-year longitudinal study

RV North, U Farrell, D Banford, C Jones, JW Gregory, G Butler and DR Owens
Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Wales, Cardiff, U.K. north@cardiff.ac.uk

OBJECTIVE: To carry out a longitudinal study of visual functions in young patients over the age of 8 years with IDDM and to assess the impact of metabolic control on the presence of diabetic retinopathy. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: There were 37 young IDDM patients from the Paediatric and Adolescent Clinic at the University Hospital of Wales studied annually for 4 years, with a control group of 24 healthy subjects observed over a 2-year period. Assessment of visual functions included visual acuity, color vision, and contrast sensitivity. Ophthalmoscopy and retinal photography were used to determine the presence or absence of diabetic retinopathy. In addition, pubertal status and metabolic control (glycosylated hemoglobin) were determined at each visit. RESULTS: Patients with IDDM demonstrate abnormal color vision and contrast sensitivity compared with the control group (P < 0.05), but visual acuity was unaffected. Visual functions were not significantly different between those IDDM patients with and without retinopathy. After 4 years, diabetic retinopathy was present in 43% of the group and was related to diabetes duration and metabolic control (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Visual function testing could not distinguish between those IDDM patients with and without retinopathy, but the color vision and contrast sensitivity in those with IDDM were significantly impaired compared with the control group. The presence of retinopathy was related to the duration of diabetes and metabolic control. It is important to ensure that good glycemic control and regular attendance for retinopathy screening is encouraged in the adolescent patients.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?




HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Diabetes Diabetes Care Clinical Diabetes Diabetes Spectrum
Copyright © 1997 by the American Diabetes Association.