BackgroundDiabetic retinopathy (DR), the primary retinal vascular consequence of diabetes mellitus (DM) among people of working age worldwide, is the primary cause of vision impairment and blindness. Despite increasing understanding of the prevalence of DM as a significant public health concern in China, the world's most populous developing nation, there is much to discover about the epidemiology of DR.ObjectiveThis work uses a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the total prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in China.MethodsUsing common keywords, we looked up published research on the prevalence of DR in diabetic patients using Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus from their founding until 2023. Using random effects models, pooled estimates of DR prevalence and the associated 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed. Fifteen articles covering 4837 patients with different forms of diabetes were analyzed. The Egger tests refuted the publication bias assumption for the prevalence of DR (P = 0.825, P = 0.057, respectively). Significant heterogeneity was seen in the prevalence of DR (P <
0.01, I2 = 92% and τ2 = 0.0082), PDR (P <
0.01, I2 = 97% and τ2 = 0.0072), and NPDR (P <
0.01, I2 = 84% and τ2 = 0.0039), according to the results of I2 and τ2 statistics.ResultsThe combined prevalence of PDR was 24% (95% CI: 19-28), NPDR was 31% (95% CI: 27-35), and DR was 55% (95% CI: 63-71).