Association of disease duration and sensorimotor function in type 2 diabetes mellitus: beyond diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess association of the duration of diabetes and vibration, proprioception, muscle strength, reaction time and balance measures in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) without peripheral neuropathy. Forty-seven type 2 diabetics without peripheral neuropathy and 23 healthy controls were recruited for the study. Patients with type 2 DM were further classified into 23 patients who suffered from diabetes for less than 5 years (p ≤ 0.013), VPT score (p ≤ 0.002), reaction time (p ≤ 0.018), COP range (p ≤ 0.005) and COP sway (p ≤ 0.027). A significant difference was found only in reaction time (p < 0.002) except in the back direction (p = 0.089), and COP range (p ≤ 0.016) except in the front (p = 0.101) and right direction (p = 0.085) between <5yrDM patients and healthy controls. ≥5yrDM patients exhibit a subtle deterioration in VPT, reaction time, and balance measure while <5yr DM patients were impaired only in COP range and reaction time when compared with healthy control.