Retinal arteriolar narrowing predicts incidence of diabetes

Abstract

OBJECTIVE-To examine the relationship of retinal vascular caliber to incident diabetes in a population-based cohort. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS- The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) Study recruited adults aged 25+ years across Australia in 1999-2000, with a follow-up 5 years later in 2004-2005. Participants' glycemic status was classified using fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 2-h oral glucose tolerance (2-h plasma glucose [2hPG]) tests. Diabetes was diagnosed if FPG was ≥7.0 mmol/l or 2hPG was ≥11.1 mmol/l. Retinal vascular caliber was measured from baseline retinal photographs using a computer-assisted program. RESULTS- Of the 803 participants without diabetes at basel..