Association between diabetic retinopathy and incident cognitive impairment

Abstract

Background/Aim: The relationship between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and cognitive impairment (CI) is unclear due to equivocal findings from cross-sectional studies and a lack of long-term data. In this population-based cohort study, we investigated the longitudinal association between the severity of DR and the incidence of CI. Methods: 682 participants with diabetes, gradable retinal photographs and no CI at baseline 2004-2011) and complete relevant data at follow-up 2010-2016 from the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Disease Study were included. CI was assessed using the validated Abbreviated Mental Test (AMT), defined as scores of ≤6 and ≤8 for those with 0-6 and >6 years of formal education,..