Abstract
BackgroundDiabetic sensory neuropathy is a common form of microvascular complication among diabetic patients. The swiftly growing population of people living with diabetes in Ethiopia and lack of elaborated scientific data on peripheral sensory neuropathy among diabetic population in Ethiopia prompted this work. This study was set out to assess the enormity and associated factors of peripheral sensory neuropathy among diabetes patients attending chronic illness clinic of Felege Hiwot Regional Referral Hospital, Bahr Dar, Northwest Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution based cross-sectional study was conducted at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital chronic illness clinic using Michigan neuropathy screening instrument tool for diabetic peripheral sensory neuropathy on 408 diabetic patients during 2016. Data were collected using interview, patient record review, anthropometric measurements and physical examination. Both bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regression was employed to identify factors associated with peripheral sensory neuropathy. Odds ratios with their 95% CI and P value less than 0.05 used to determine statistically significant associations.ResultsA total of 368 patients were included with the mean age of 49 ± 14.3 years. The overall prevalence of Peripheral Sensory Neuropathy was found to be 52.2%. The major associated factors identified by multivariate analysis were age >50 years: AOR: 3.0 CI [1.11, 7.89]; overweight and obese: AOR: 7.3 CI [3.57, 14.99]; duration of DM: AOR: 3.4 CI [1.75, 6.60]; not involved in physical exercise: AOR: 4.8 CI [1.90, 7.89]; male gender: AOR: 2.4 CI [1.18, 5.05].ConclusionAlmost half of the diabetic patients who attended Felege Hiwot regional referral hospital during study period were found to present with peripheral sensory neuropathy. Socio-demographic and bio characteristics like patients age, Body Mass Index, level of physical activity and marital status were significantly associated with diabetic peripheral sensory neuropathy.
Highlights
Diabetic sensory neuropathy is a common form of microvascular complication among diabetic patients
Patients with Diabetic peripheral sensory neuropathy (DPSN) might suffer from pain and discomfort in the lower extremities, loss or absence of protective sensation in the lower extremities leading to balance problems, risk of foot ulcerations, and a reduced quality of life in adults with diabetes patients [9]
This study found out that the prevalence of DPSN according to the Michigan neuropathy screening instrument (MNSI) patient history version was 36.3%, which is much lesser than prevalence explored by MNSI examination which was 52.2%
Summary
Diabetic sensory neuropathy is a common form of microvascular complication among diabetic patients. This study was set out to assess the enormity and associated factors of peripheral sensory neuropathy among diabetes patients attending chronic illness clinic of Felege Hiwot Regional Referral Hospital, Bahr Dar, Northwest Ethiopia. Peripheral sensory neuropathy (PSN) is one of the complications of diabetes and the most common cause of foot. The global estimates of Diabetic peripheral sensory neuropathy (DPSN) prevalence vary widely from 9.6 to 88.7% in different populations. This may be attributed to different types of diabetes, existing health care facilities, Jember et al Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders (2017) 16:16 sample selection, different diagnostic criteria used, variable methods etc. Early screening of DPSN and identifying associated factors is very crucial especially for developing countries with low resource settings and low literacy rate [5]
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