Background
: It is known that diabetic retinopathy is the most specific complication of dibet-ic microvascular complication, and a important cause of blindness in adults. We investigated the risk factors of diabetic retinopathy on non-insulin dependent diabetic male patients.
Method: The 107 diabetic male patients with retinopathy and the same number of diabetic patients without retinopathy were chosen randomly, who were hospitalized in a university hospi-tal. They were called up for a inquiry and their medical records were also reviewed. The obtai-ned data were the age, family history of diabetes, duration of diabetes, onset age of diabetes, status of diabetes control, diabetic complication, blood pressure, obesity, lipid profile, drinking behavior, and amount of smoking.
Result: The mean age of the group with diabetic retinopathy is 57.2 years and that of the group without diabetic retinopathy is 58.3 years. Compared to the group without diabetic retino-pathy, there shows statistical difference in family history of diabetes, using insulin, diabetic complication, hypertension in the group with diabetic retinopathy(P<0.01). Also it is observerd that the age of onset of diabetes is younger, the duration of diabetes is longer(P<0.01), and the status of diabetic control is worse in the group with diabetic retinopathy(P<0.05). On the other hand, there shows no difference in the obesity, smoking, drinking between two proups.
Through multiple logistic regression analysis, diabetic retinopathy seemed to be associated with factors such as family history of diabetes, duration of diabetes and level of fasting blood sugar.

Conclusion : The risk of diabetic retinopathy is more increased in patients with family history of diabetes, the longer duration of diabetes, and the worse control of blood sugar.