Studies have shown a correlation between the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) and diabetic retinopathy (DR); however, studies using large population-based databases are limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the UACR and DR in US adults. DR data from adults aged 20 years or older from the 2011 to 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used in this investigation. The relationship between the UACR and DR incidence was examined via multifactorial logistic regression analysis. Furthermore, interaction and subgroup analyses were carried out via logistic regression models, and sensitivity studies were completed to evaluate the robustness of the results. The average age of the individuals was 60.3 ± 13.1 years, and 694 (18.4%) of them had DR. When all the factors were adequately controlled for, multifactorial logistic regression modeling revealed that there was a 12% increase in the risk of DR for every unit increase in the logarithmic transformation UACR (odds ratio = 1.12, 95% confidence interval = 1.06–1.19, P .05). The risk of DR in adult US citizens is positively correlated with the UACR. To confirm the causal connection between the UACR and DR, more cohort studies are needed.
Feng et al. (Fri,) studied this question.