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Diabetic eye disease (retinopathy) is one of the most common diabetes-related secondary diseases of the small blood vessels and also one of the main causes of blindness in people with diabetes. Regular ophthalmologic check-ups allow the detection and the treatment of potential retinal damage at an early stage. According to the National Health Care Guideline (NVL) Type 2 Diabetes, people with diabetes should have their ocular fundus examined every one to two years, depending on the general risk constellation and existing retinal changes (NVL 2023).
Indikatoren_ScreenreaderHinweis_Datentabelle
Indikatoren_ScreenreaderHinweis_Datentabelle
Indikatoren_ScreenreaderHinweis_Datentabelle
Indikatoren_ScreenreaderHinweis_Datentabelle
In 2021, 64.8% of people (women: 64.1%; men: 65.4%) aged 45 years and older with type 2 diabetes in Germany have had their ocular fundus examined in the past 12 months. Among people with type 2 diabetes, the overall proportion with medical eye examination increases with age and is higher in women in the age groups 65 to 79 years (68.3%) and 80 years and over (70.8%) than in the age group 45 to 64 years (53.1%), while among men no differences are observed between the respective age groups (61.5%, 69.9% and 65.2%). For both women and men, no differences are found regarding ophthalmologic examination by education and region.
In Germany, nearly two-thirds of people aged 45 years and older with type 2 diabetes have their ocular fundus examined by an ophthalmologist at least once a year. A comparison over time with an RKI study based on results for 2010 (Du et al. 2015) shows a decrease (-14.5 percentage points) for the age group of 45 to 79 years, especially in women (-22.3 percentage points) and in the age group of 65 to 79 years (-17.0 percentage points). This decrease is probably due to an update of the NVL. While according to NVL, the recommendation of a once-a-year examination was previously given for people with diabetes without known retino- or maculopathy (NVL 2014), since 2015 the eye examination is recommended at intervals of one to two years depending on the existing risk profile and retinal changes (NVL 2015; NVL 2022). Based on the data presented in the DMP Atlas North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the proportion of people aged 18 years and older enrolled in the DMP Type 2 Diabetes NRW in 2021 with a retinal examination in the last 24 months is 64.1 % overall, which is below the target achievement rate of at least 90 % specified in the DMP (DMP 2021).