The Correlation Between Red Cell Distribution Width and Diabetic Retinopathy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

ABS TRACT Objective: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a serious complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), and is the leading cause of blindness among adults. Inflammation and oxidative stress play an important role in DR pathogenesis. Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a reliable inflammatory and oxidative stress marker in various cardiovascular diseases, but there is a little data regarding its usefulness in ocular diseases. Thus, we aimed to investigate the correlation between RDW and DR in this study. Material and Methods: A total of 180 patients with type 2 DM were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into 2 groups. A hundred-forty nine patients (82.77%) had no DR and, thirty one patients (17.22%) had DR. Complete blood cell parameters including RDW and biochemical tests including hemoglobin A1c were noted at the time of first ophthalmic examination. Results: RDW values were higher in DR (+) group than DR (-) group (14.92±1.71% vs. 13.81±1.00%, respectively, p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, RDW remained an independent predictor of DR (Odds ratio [OR] 1.691, 95% confidence interval (1.036-2.763), p=0.036) together with duration of DM (OR 1.199, p<0.001) and hemoglobin A1c (OR 2.366, p=0.006). Conclusion: Elevated RDW levels were significantly associated with DR in patients with type 2 DM.