Myopia and Rate of Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Diabetic Patients Without Retinopathy: A 2-Year Longitudinal Study.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between myopia and longitudinal changes in peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness in type 2 diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy (DR).

METHODS: A total of 1069 participants with a median follow-up time of 1.9 years were included in this study. The participants were categorized into four groups based on the presence of myopia (≤ -0.5 diopter [D]) and diabetes without DR, including a control group ( n  = 412), diabetes group ( n  = 416), myopia group ( n  = 115), and diabetes + myopia group ( n  = 126). Peripapillary average and sectoral RNFL measurements were obtained using 6 × 6 mm swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) scans centered at the optic disc. The change rate of pRNFL, adjusted for age and sex, was calculated and compared among the four groups to investigate the impact of myopia and diabetes.

RESULTS: The baseline estimated pRNFL thickness after adjustment for covariates was 113.7 μm, 116.2 μm, 108.0 μm, and 105.6 μm in the control, diabetes, myopia, and diabetes + myopia group, respectively (diabetes > control > myopia = diabetes + myopia, p  < 0.001). The respective average pRNFL loss in the four groups was -0.48 μm/year, -1.11 μm/year, -1.23 μm/year, and -2.62 μm/year (all p  < 0.01). The diabetes + myopia group exhibited a greater rate of average pRNFL reduction compared to the other groups (all p  < 0.001). Multivariate analysis using a linear mixed-effects model showed that age, diabetes, axial length (AL), and baseline pRNFL thickness were significantly associated with the rate of average pRNFL reduction.

CONCLUSIONS: The diabetes group showed a faster rate of average pRNFL thickness reduction compared to healthy controls, regardless of the presence of myopia. The average pRNFL thickness decreased more rapidly when diabetes and myopia were present simultaneously than in the individual diabetes or myopia group. Both diabetes and myopia were associated with accelerated pRNFL loss.