Background: Diabetes mellitus affects over 3.9 million people in the United Kingdom (UK), with over 2.6 million people in England alone. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a common microvascular complication of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and remains a major cause of vision loss and blindness in those of working age. This dataset includes the national screening diabetic grade category (seven categories from R0M0 to R3M1) from the Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country DR screening program (a member of the National Health Service (NHS) Diabetic Eye Screening Programme) and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust ophthalmology treatment and visual outcome data.

Geography: The West Midlands has a population of 5.9 million. The region includes a diverse ethnic, and socio-economic mix, with a higher than UK average of minority ethnic groups. It has a large number of elderly residents but is the youngest population in the UK. There are particularly high rates of diabetes, physical inactivity, obesity, and smoking.

Data sources:

1. The Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country Data Set, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom. They manage over 200,000 diabetic patients, with longitudinal follow-up up to 15 years, making this the largest urban diabetic eye screening scheme in Europe.
2. The Electronic Health Records from the Ophthalmology clinic at Queen. Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation.

Scope: All Birmingham, Solihull and Black Country diabetic eye screened participants who have been see in ophthalmology outpatients at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation from 2006 onwards. Longitudinal and individually linked with their diabetic eye care from primary screening data and secondary hospital eye care including • Demographic information (including age, sex and ethnicity) • Diabetes status • Diabetes type • Length of time since diagnosis of diabetes • Visual acuity • The national screening diabetic screening grade category (seven categories from R0M0 to R3M1) • Diabetic eye clinical features • Reason for sight and severe sight impairment • Ocular treatment including laser treatment and surgical treatment • Visual Outcome