The sensitivity and specificity of quantitative sensory testing in screening diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the early stage

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of quantitative sensory testing (QST) in screening diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the early stage. Methods One hundred patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were examined by nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and QST examination. With the NCV positive as the gold criterion for screening diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the early stage, the sensitivity and specificity of QST was further analyzed for diagnosis of the early stage diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Results Among the 100 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus,there were 41 cases positive and 59 cases negative in NCV examination. On the other hand,there were 74 cases positive,and 26 cases negative in QST. The sensitivity and specificity of QST for the diagnosis of early stage diabetic peripheral neuropathy was 97.56% (40/41) and 42.37% (25/59). Conclusions In the screening of early stage diabetic peripheral neuropathy,QST shows higher detection sensitivity,but lower specificity than NCV examination. Therefore, QST may be an examination for the supplement of the routine electromyography. Key words: Diabetic neuropathies; Sensitivity and specificity; Electromyography; Quantitative sensory testing