CORRELATION BETWEEN SEVERITY OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY AND HBA1C LEVEL IN PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETIC MELLITUS IN A TERTIARY HEALTH CARE CENTRE: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Aim – To correlate the levels of HBA1C with severity of diabetic retinopathy according to ETDRS classification. Materials and methods – This is a cross-sectional, observational, descriptive study was conducted at major tertiary health care centre. Total 223 patients of type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) with Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) studied for 1 year. Results – Correlation between Hba1c levels and the severity of diabetic retinopathy was found to be statistically significant (p value < 0.05). Out of 223 cases, 139 were males, 84 were females. Hba1c levels were less 8% in 57 cases, 8-9.9 % in 83 cases while Hba1c levels were more than 10% in 83 cases. According to ETDRS classification 9 cases were very mild NPDR, 62 cases of mild NPDR, 45 cases of moderate NPDR, 32 cases of severe NPDR, 13 cases of very severe NPDR, 26 cases of mild PDR, 20 cases of high risk PDR and 16 cases of advanced eye disease. Conclusion – There is a strong correlation between Hba1c levels, duration of DM and severity of DR. Hba1c can be used as a useful tool to assess long term control of DM and hence development of DR. Early treatment of DR is important to prevent this irreversible blindness.