Correlation between diabetic retinopathy and diabetic neuropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors

  • saba imanparvar school of medicine, Ardabil university of medical sciences, Ardabil, Iran
  • zahra farrokhi Shahid beheshti university of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Zahra Babamohamadi Shahid beheshti university of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • fatemeh afkhami Department of medicine, faculty of medicine, Islamic azad university Tehran medical science branch, Tehran, Iran
  • parsa panahiyan GAZIANTEP UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF MEDICINE,Address: Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine Dean’s Office, University Boulevard, P.O. 27310, Şehitkamil / Gaziantep, TURKEY
  • helia sadat kazemi departmen of medicin, Faculty of medicine, shahid beheshti university of medical science, Tehran, Iran
  • mehrdad Tofighi departmen of medicin, Faculty of medicine, Lorestan university of medical science, khorram abad, Iran
  • Maedeh bayani student research committe, school of medicine, shahid beheshti university
  • sina seyedipour Jiroft university of medical sciences, Jiroft, Iran
  • mohammadreza arzaghi Shahid beheshti university of medical sciences, Tehran, Iran
  • Niloofar Deravi Shahid beheshti university of medical sciences
  • masoud noroozi department of biomedical engineering, Faculty of engineering, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54029/2025pus

Keywords:

diabetes, retinopathy, neuropathy, microvascular complications

Abstract

Background & Objective: The early identification of microvascular complications associated with diabetes plays a crucial role in determining the disease’s prognosis. This systematic review and meta- analysis aimed to investigate the correlation between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic neuropathy (DN) in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Method: An advanced literature search was carried out until February 18, 2024, and we accessed the relevant articles from databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus. Related articles were extracted. Titles, abstracts, and full texts of the articles were screened. The quality of the included articles was assessed, and the data was extracted and analyzed.

Result: We included 6 cohort and cross-sectional studies with a total population of 54,586. The primary outcome of this study was the interactions among the diabetic microvascular complications, including DR and DN. Our findings indicate DN is associated with increased risk of DR twofold (pooled effect: 2.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.53-2.82٫ I²: 81%, p<0.01). DR was related to DN (pooled OR: 2.67, 95% CI: 1.64–2.97, p < 0.01).

Conclusion: This meta-analysis showed that DN is associated with increased risk of DR in patients with type 2 diabetes. Given the high heterogeneity observed in the studies, further large-scale randomized control trials are still required to prove this association.

Published

2025-10-06

Issue

Vol. 30 No. 3 (2025)

Section

Original Article