To evaluate the relationship between maternal diabetes and the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in infants with a birth weight of 1500 g or more.

Retrospective case-control study.

Data of 78 premature infants from diabetic mothers were compared with data of 258 controls. We examined the relationship between maternal diabetes and the development of ROP and type 1 ROP, adjusting for multiple risk factors. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors of outcome variables. Prior to multivariable logistic regression analysis, the association of each independent variable with the outcome variables, a univariate estimate was performed. The crude and adjusted odds ratio (OR) values and their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were given. Main outcome measures were the development of ROP and the development of type 1 ROP.

The study was conducted on 336 preterm infants; 78 were from diabetic mothers and 258 were from nondiabetic mothers. The rate of ROP (78.2% in case group and 14.7% in control group) and the rate of type 1 ROP (20.5% in case group and 4.7% for controls) were found significantly higher in the case group (P = .001 for both). Maternal diabetes was shown to be an independent risk factor for both ROP and type 1 ROP (OR with 95% CI: 25.040 [12.728–49.264]; 6.311 [2.647–15.048], respectively, and P < .001 for both).

Our data suggest that the presence of maternal diabetes is significantly associated with the development of ROP and type 1 ROP in premature infants with a birth weight of 1500 g or more.