Vision Loss Study Reports Long-term DR Burden

Vision impairment from diabetic retinopathy (DR) has long-lasting effects on society, hindering employment, quality of life and mental health. Blindness prevention programs often focus their efforts on children and elderly patients, with working-age individuals historically receiving less attention from such initiatives. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2021, researchers conducted an analysis of working-age adults (aged 20 to 65) to evaluate trends of vision impairment associated with diabetic retinopathy. In their study, published recently in the Journal of Diabetes, they defined visual impairment as low vision (Snellen VA <6/18 to ≥3/60) and blindness (Snellen VA <3/60 or central visual field <10 degrees). They also analyzed DR-related vision impairment burden—i.e., prevalence and years lived with disability—by sex, age, location and sociodemographic index. In 1990 and 2021, Asia was home to the highest number of prevalent cases and years lived with disability. South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia were the top three affected regions in the world and home to 52.5% of the world’s DR-affected working population. These charts from the study show global trends of visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy in the working-age population from 1990 to 2021. (ASPR: age-standardized prevalence rate; ASYR: age-standardized YLD rate; YLD: years lived with disability.) Photo: Meng Y, et al. J Diabetes 2025;17:e70121. Click image to enlarge. The researchers reported a significant increase in the global prevalence and years lived with disability rate of DR-related vision impairment during the GBD study period (1990 to 2021). In 2021, there were 2.85 million prevalent cases and 250,117 years lived with disability, demonstrating a 2.8-times and 3-times increase from 1990, respectively. The most severely burdened regions were South Asia and China in 2021. During the study period, female patients had a consistently greater burden than male patients. DR-related visual burden centered on middle-sociodemographic index countries. The researchers’ predictive analysis points toward an increase in both the number of patients and years lived with disability by 2035.“The vision impairment burden of DR differed by sex, geographical region and sociodemographic development level,” the researchers concluded in their Journal of Diabetes paper. “Additionally, the global number of working-age people visually impaired by DR is projected to further increase between 2022 and 2035. These findings highlight the pressing need for proactive interventions to address the heavy burden of DR-related vision. Impairment in the working-age population.”Click here for the journal source. Meng Y, Liu Y, Duan R, et al. Global, regional, and national epidemiology of vision impairment due to diabetic retinopathy among working-age population, 1990-2021. J Diabetes 2025;17:e70121.