Abstract
Objective: To determine the rate of distal symmetrical polyneuropathy (DSP) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, to evaluate the role of history, neurological examination and the electrodiagnostic methods in the diagnosis of DSP, and to determine the association between electromyography-supported neuropathy (ESN), neuropathic complaints (NCs) and risk factors. Subjects and Methods: A total of 191 type 2 DM patients (109 female, 82 male; mean age 58.7 ± 10 years) were recruited. The NCs were recorded. All patients had electromyographic (EMG) examinations. The relationship between ESN, NCs and risk factors were evaluated. Results: Of the 191 patients, 83 (43.5%) had DSP on EMG examinations and 92 (48.2%) patients suffered from NCs. Among the ESN patients, a significant relationship existed with HbA1<sub>c</sub> level, illness duration, smoking, male gender or insulin usage (p < 0.05) but not with age, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia or hypertriglyceridemia. The frequency of NCs was higher in patients with ESN. There was also a significant association between NCs and ESN (p < 0.05). The presence of NCs was not related to age, gender, smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia (p > 0.05) but NCs were correlated to HbA1<sub>c</sub> level, illness duration and insulin usage (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Our data show that a strong association exists between the presence of DSP and illness duration, HbA1<sub>c</sub>, smoking, thereby indicating that cessation of smoking and near normal glycemic control would be additional precautions to delay the beginning or progression of polyneuropathy.
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