Aims/hypothesis To describe the prevalence of retinopathy and microalbuminuria at diagnosis of diabetes in a predominantly Maori study population.

Methods Biomedical assessment including photographic retinal examination was undertaken among 157 (68.9% of eligible) members of Maori families (3.3% non-Maori) diagnosed with diabetes during a community screening programme (n = 5240) as part of a diabetes prevention strategy.

Results Mean HbA1c of those with newly diagnosed diabetes was 7.8 ± 1.5% with 34.4% having an HbA1c ≥8.0%. Retinopathy was present in 3 (1.7%) subjects, cataracts in 3.2%, microalbuminuria in 29.6% and albuminuria in 7.7%. After adjusting for covariates, only smoking was a risk factor for microalbuminuria/proteinuria (current and former smokers: increased 3.81(1.32–11.0) and 3.67(1.30–10.4) fold, respectively).

Conclusions The prevalence of retinopathy at diagnosis was lower than in previous studies, yet that of microalbuminuria/proteinuria remained high. The retinopathy data suggest that case detection for diabetes in the community may be improving, but that other strategies among those at risk of diabetes, including those promoting smoking cessation, will be needed to reduce the risk of renal disease among Maori with diabetes.