Hao Z, Huang X, Qin Y, et al. - A single-centre cross-sectional study was performed to examine the related factors of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and investigate the relationship between smoking and DR in patients with newly diagnosed T2DM. A total of 947 individuals were included with newly diagnosed T2DM who visited the outpatient department of the hospital between December 2018 and April 2019. Individuals were classified into two groups according to whether they were diagnosed with DR (diabetic retinopathy group, DR group; non-diabetic retinopathy group, non-diabetic retinopathy group). The smoking index (SI) was estimated to evaluate smoking status. They further compared factors such as gender, age, hypertension, T2DM diagnosed age, family history of diabetes, drinking history, haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), BMI and smoking status between the two groups. Logistic regression was applied to investigate the relationship between DR and the above factors. In individuals with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus, heavy smoking was an important related factor for DR when BMI was ≥ 28 kg/m2. Delaying the age of diabetes might prevent the appearance of DR. Long-term cohort studies with large samples are required to illustrate the association.