Introduction:

Diabetic retinopathy isthemostcommonmicrovascularcomplication of diabetes mellitus. Elevatedlevels of glucose in theblood induce structural, physiological and hormonal changesthataffectthecapillaries of the retina. Retinopathy beginsitsdevelopment at leastsevenyearsbeforethe diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective:

To describe thebehavior of diabetic retinopathy in patientstreated at the Retina clinic of the Manuel Ascunce Domenech University Hospital in Camagüey province.

Methods:

Adescriptive, longitudinal study in patientswiththe diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy wascarriedout. 330 patientsthatattendedtheretinalconsultation in theperiodfromJanuarytoNovember, 2019 and thattheyfulfilledtheselectioncriteria, conformedthepopulation. A collectingfill-outform of data wasdesigned and independent variables: Age, sex, risk factors, time of evolution of disease and likedependent variable theseverity of retinopathy, werestudied.

Results:

Thebehavior of theagegroupsbetween 41 and 60 years, was more frequent, followedbypatientsbetween 20 and 40 yearthattheysufferedfromproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Thebadglycemic control wasthemostfrequent risk factor, followedbyhighbloodpressure. Thegreatestquantity of patientshadbetween 17 and 21 years of disease, followedbythosepatientsbetween 22 and 27 years of disease.

Conclusions:

Theagebetween 41 and 60 yearsprevailed in thestudy. Allpatientshad more thanone risk factor. Poor glycemic control and arterial hypertensionwerethemostfrequent risk factors in thestudy. Thedisease’sevolution time between 17 and 21 years of illnesspredominated. Therewas a relationshipbetweenthepatient'sage, risk factors and time of evolution of thediseasewiththeseverity of diabetic retinopathy, whereproliferative diabetic retinopathy predominated.

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