Pediatric diabetic retinopathy: Experience of a tertiary hospital in Oman

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence and clinical profile of pediatric diabetic retinopathy (DR) among Omani diabetic children and adolescents attending a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study involved the record review of 216 diabetic children attending the diabetes retina clinic of the National Diabetes and Endocrine Centre in the period between June 2015 and November 2018. The retinal evaluation was conducted using direct ophthalmological examination and fundus photography. DR was graded using the Early Treatment DR Study criteria. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS, version 20. RESULTS: The prevalence of DR among the study sample was 3.7% (95% confidence interval: 1.2-6.2). Mild and moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy was seen in 2.8% (6) and 0.9% (2) of patients, respectively. Diabetic maculopathy was observed in 2 (0.9%) cases. Diabetic ketoacidosis was seen in 33.8% of children at presentation. DR was significantly associated with age (P = 0.01), duration (P < 0.001), Type 1 diabetes mellitus (P = 0.01), dyslipidemia (P = 0.005), microalbuminuria (P = 0.001), glycated hemoglobin (P = 0.003), total cholesterol (P = 0.001), high-density lipoproteins (P = 0.001), low-density lipoproteins (P < 0.001), and albumin/creatinine ratio (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study describing DR among the pediatric age group in Oman. This study reveals a relatively low prevalence of DR and maculopathy among the pediatric diabetic population. However, novel strategies are to be adopted at primary levels to achieve timely screening of diabetic children to enhance the early detection of DR.