Objective 28-5

Diabetic Eye Disease

Reduce visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy

This objective was the focus of Healthy Vision Month 2004

People with diabetes are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy, a major cause of vision loss. Because early diagnosis and timely treatment have been shown to prevent vision loss in more than 90 percent of patients, health care practice guidelines recommend an annual dilated eye exam for all people with diabetes. Studies indicate, however, that many people with diabetes do not get an annual dilated eye exam. An estimated 50 percent of patients are diagnosed too late for treatment to be effective.

Data Source

Baseline: 45.9 per 1,000 persons aged 18 years and older with diabetes had trouble seeing and diabetic retinopathy in 2002 (age adjusted to the year 2000 standard population).

Target: 40.9 per 1,000 persons 18 years and over who have diabetes.

Target Setting Method: Better than the best.

Data source: National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Operational definition: This is a valuable tool that allows individuals to set measurable Healthy Vision objectives for their own communities.

People 18 years and over with diabetes	Rate per 1000
	45.9
Race and ethnicity
American Indian or Alaska Native only	DSU
Asian or Pacific Islander only	DSU
Asian only	DSU
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only	DSU
Black or African American only	DNA
White only	46.7
2 or more races	DSU
American Indian or Alaska Native; White	DSU
Black or African American; White	DSU
Hispanic or Latino	73.3
Non Hispanic or Latino	41.9
Black or African American only, not Hisp/Latino	DSU
White only, not Hispanic or Latino	41.0
Gender
Female	46.8
Male	46.6
Education level (persons 25 years and over)
Under 12 years	58.9
12 years	44.9
13 years and over	47.4

Legend:
DNA = Data have not been analyzed.
DNC = Data for specific population are not collected.
DSU = Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.

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Operational definition for objective: 28-5
28-5.	Reduce visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy.
National Data Source	National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), CDC, NCHS.
State Data Source	Not identified.
Healthy People 2000 Objective	Not applicable.
Measure	Rate per 1,000 population (age adjusted - see Comments).
Baseline	45.9 (2002).
Numerator	Number of adults aged 18 years and older who report they have trouble seeing, had ever been told they had diabetes, and were also told they had diabetic retinopathy.
Denominator	Number of adults aged 18 years and older who have ever been told they had diabetes.
Population Targeted	U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population.
Questions Used To Obtain the National Data	From the 2002 National Health Interview Survey: > Do you have trouble seeing, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses? > Have you ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that you have diabetes? > Have you ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that you had diabetic retinopathy?
Expected Periodicity	Periodic.
Comments	Adults who responded "yes" to all threequestions above met the criteria for this objective. Data (except those by education status) are age adjusted to the 2000 standard population using the age groups 18-44, 45-64, and 65 years and over. Data by education status are adjusted using the age groups 25-44, 45-64, and 65 years and over. Age-adjusted rates are weighted sums of age-specific rates. For a discussion on age adjustment, see Part A, section 5. For some measures, data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality and have been suppressed. Information on suppression of data for the major Healthy People 2010 data systems has been published in a Healthy People Statistical Note report (Klein, R.; Proctor, S.; Boudreault, M.; Turczyn, K. Healthy People 2010 Statistical Notes No. 24. 2002). See Part C for a description of NHIS and Appendix A for focus area contact information. All referenced "Parts" and "Appendices" can be found in Tracking Healthy People 2010.