Hidden dangers revealed by misdiagnosed diabetic neuropathy: A comparison of simple clinical tests for the screening of vibration perception threshold at primary care level

Correct diagnosis and treatment of neuropathy in patients with diabetes is crucial. This study demonstrates that some instruments are more sensitive to vibration perception than others. We recommend that different modalities should be used in patients with diabetes and when results do not concur, further neurological evaluation should be performed. This would significantly reduce the proportion of patients with diabetes who would be falsely identified as having no peripheral neuropathy and subsequently denied the benefit of beneficial and effective secondary risk factor control.