Early Diagnosis of Diabetic Neuropathy in Almadinah Almunawwarah

ObjectivesDiabetes mellitus (DM) is a major public health problem worldwide. The aim is to assess the early detection of impaired nerve function and the risk factors associated with the development of diabetic neuropathy.MethodsIt is a prospective descriptive study of age-matched 263 diabetic Saudi patients from the outpatient clinic of the Diabetic Centre in King Fahd Hospital in Almadinah Almunawwarah in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during 2008-2009. Written informed consent was obtained from each subject after the protocol was approved by the local ethics committee. All subjects were diagnosed as diabetics using WHO criteria. We obtained detailed demographic data as age, sex, special habits, height, weight and body mass index, arterial blood pressure, type and duration of diabetes, glycosated haemoglobin (HbA1C), lipid profile, management, family history of hypertension, diabetes. Assessment of neuropathy by using the Diabetic neuropathy index and diabetic neuropathy score. Asymptomatic patients who scored less than two in clinical examination were referred to be assessed by complete neurological examination, and nerve conduction studies. Data were calculated and compared by using SPSS version 13.0.ResultsThe type I were 39 (14.8%) and type II were 244 (85.2%) diabetic patients and the mean duration of diabetes mellitus in all diabetic patients was 13.89 ± 8.7 years. The symptomatic diabetic neuropathy patients were 165 (62.7%)s out of 263 diabetic patients and the asymptomatic were 98 (37.3%). The risk factors for neuropathy were old age, poor blood sugar control, long duration of diabetes, hyperlepidemia, Body Mass Index (BMI). There were no statistical significant differences in relation to types of diabetes mellitus. There was positive correlation which shown by the linear regression charts between the grades of nerve conduction defects in asymptomatic diabetic neuropathy patients and duration of diabetes, age, BMI and HbA1C.ConclusionThe early detection of by sub-clinical nerve conduction of diabetic patients is of a major clinical interest that could lead to more intensive supervision of diabetic patients. Further studies should be performed in order to confirm these findings.