PREVALENCE OF PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS SEEN AT THE OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT OF A TERTIARY HOSPITAL.

INTRODUCTION

The number of people living with diabetes has been on the rise at an alarming rate. Chronic hyperglycemia predisposes the development of long term complications which includes Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). DPN maybe accompanied with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (pDPN) arising as a direct with a prevalence of 15%, this however remains underdiagnosed.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy in patients with Diabetes Mellitus.

METHODS

This study is a Cross-sectional Study to determine the prevalence of Diabetic peripheral neuropathy in patients with Diabetes Mellitus seen at the Outpatient Department of BGHMC from the study duration of October to November 2020.

RESULTS

Out of the 65 patients with diabetes seen, less than half (42%) had diabetic polyneuropathy based on the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) with most patients (85%) having painful diabetic neuropathy. The presence of hypertension was significantly related to patients having diabetes without peripheral neuropathy (P= 0.03) while the absence of  nephropathy and retinopathy was significantly associated with not having diabetic neuropathy since the p- values were 0.021 and 0.004 respectively.

CONCLUSION

Diabetes Mellitus is a condition that is long standing with longterm sequelae. DPN with neuropathic pain is an important cause of foot ulcers that may lead to amputation. The role of healthcare professionals in the early identification and screening of diabetic nueropathy in patients with diabetes mellitus is crucial to aggressively screen, educate, and treat patients. The Michigan Neuropathy Screening Test is an easy, simple and indespensable tool for testing diabetic neuropathy which can be done in the OPD as well as in health centers.