THE DIABETES EPIDEMIC
AND DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA (DME)
As the U.S. diabetic population continues to increase, so does the burden of diabetic eye disease1-3
Projections for diabetic eye disease are expected to nearly double in the next few decades, from 7.7 to 14.6 million3
• Vision loss compounds the burden of diabetes, complicating care for other aspects of the disease6
• Retina Specialists can expect their practice capacity to be stretched as the number of patients with diabetic eye disease continues to surge
How will this impact your practice?
DME is a leading cause of vision loss among working-age adults (non-elderly) populations8
Prevalence of DME in Diabetic Patients9
Among Patients With Type 1 Diabetes
Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes
4.2% 1.4% 7.9% 12.8% to to
In the United States, approximately 1 of every 25 diabetic patients ≥ 40 years of age has DME in at least 1 eye10
• Longer duration of diabetes is associated with higher DME prevalence11
• DME care requires frequent monthly treatment and monitoring, placing a high burden on staff and resources as well as on patients who are in the workforce8,12
How do you ensure your patients with DME get the care they need while minimizing the burden of therapy?
References: 1. Statistics about diabetes. American Diabetes Association website. https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/statistics/. Updated April 1, 2016. Accessed September 28, 2016. 2. Long-term trends in diabetes. Centers for Disease Control website. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/ statistics/slides/long_term_trends.pdf. Published April 2016. Accessed September 28, 2016. 3. Diabetic retinopathy. National Eye Institute website. https://nei.nih.gov/eyedata/diabetic. Accessed September 28, 2016. 4. A snapshot: Diabetes in the United States. Centers for Disease Control website. http://www.cdc.gov/media/dpk/2014/images/diabetes-report/infographic1-web.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2016. 5. Huang EE, Basu A, O’Grady M, Capretta JC. Projecting the future diabetes population size and related costs for the U.S. Diabetes Care. 2009;32(12):2225–2229. 6. Leksell JK, Wikblad KF, Sandberg GE. Sense of coherence and power among people with blindness caused by diabetes. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2005;67(2):124-129. 7. Facts about diabetic eye disease. National Eye Institute website. https://nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy. Reviewed September 2015. Accessed September 28, 2016. 8. Wallick CJ, Hansen RN, Campbell J, Kiss S, Kowalski JW, Sullivan SD. Comorbidity and health care resource use among commercially insured non-elderly patients with diabetic macular edema. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina 2015;46(7):744-751. 9. Lee R, Wong TY, Sabanayagam C. Epidemiology of diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and related vision loss. Eye Vis (Lond). 2015;2:17. 10. Varma R, Bressler NM, Doan QV, et al. Prevalence of and risk factors for diabetic macular edema in the United States. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2014;132(11):1334-1340. 11. Ding J, Wong TY. Current epidemiology of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. Curr Diab Rep. 2012;12(4):346-354. 12. Chandwani H, Kiss S, Cole AL, Patel VC, Lunacsek O, Dugel PU. Comorbidity and healthcare visit burden in working-age commercially insured diabetic macular edema patients. Presented at: Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO); May 3-7, 2015; Denver, CO.