Study of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy in Adults of Telangana

Abstract

Background: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) predisposes to foot ulceration and gangrene. It has been reported thatprevalence of DPN is lower in Indians relative to Caucasians. Studies among recent onset patients with type 2 diabetesmellitus (Type2-M) are very few. We studied the prevalence and risk factors of DPN in patients with newly diagnosedType2DM.Methods: We prospectively studied 80 consecutive patients over age 30 with a duration of diabetes ≤1 year. Every patientunderwent a clinical and biochemical evaluation and was screened for DPN using TCSS scale (Toronto clinical scoringsystem) and Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS) pain scale.Results: The cases had a mean age of 60.28 years and duration of symptoms of DM is <1year prior to presentation. Theoverall prevalence of DPN was 12.5%. The prevalence of DPN showed an increasing trend with FBS (trend chi-square=3.517, P = 0.0304). A logistic regression analysis showed that DPN was independently associated with Fasting Blood Sugar(P = 0.0304), Body mass index (P= 0.0389), HbA1c (P = 0.0451), family history (P= 0.0426) and physical activity (P= 0.0219)but not with age, sex and education.Conclusions: Our study showed high prevalence of PN in recently diagnosed patients with Type2DM, which wasindependently associated with age and duration of symptoms of diabetes prior to the diagnosis. FBS, HbA1c, BMI, werefound to be risk factors for prevalence of Diabetic Neuropathy.