Background: People suffering from chronic hyperglycemia have a higher risk of developing macrovascular complications such as coronary, cerebrovascular ischemic disease and microvascular complications such as retinopathy, which is the third cause of irreversible blindness in the world, but the first in people of productive age in developing countries, generating large economic losses. Objective: to identify the risk factors for diabetic retinopathy in patients of two ophthalmological units of the city of Monteria- Cordoba. Methods: a descriptive, retrospective study conducted with a sample of 62 patients with diabetic retinopathy. We collected sociodemographic information and variables corresponding to the risk factors to develop diabetic retinopathy such as hypertension, CKD, obesity, and disease progression. The statistical program SPSS version 23 was used to analyze the data. Results: the average age of the participants was 57.9 years SD = 10.5, the male sex predominated with 62.9%, 75% presented an evolution of DM greater than 10 years, levels of basal glycemia greater than 130 mg / dl 61.2%, also had comorbidities such as hypertension and Chronic Kidney Disease. Conclusions: variables that could act as predisposing factors for the development of this entity were found, although no statistical significance was found.