Prevalence of neuropathic pain and associated factors in diabetes mellitus type 2 patients seen in outpatient setting

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Epidemiological data on chronic pain in different populations are scarce in Brazil. This study aimed at investigating the prevalence of neuropathic pain and possible associated factors in diabetes type 2 patients, of a teaching center. METHODS: This was a transversal study with individuals seen between March 2010 and March 2011, in the Medical Outpatient Setting of Specialties, University of the South of Santa Catarina, Tubarão, SC, with interviews to identify socio-demographic variables of age, gender and time elapsed after diagnosis of diabetes mellitus and application of tools to measure neuropathic pain, depression, glycemia and adhesion to treatment. RESULTS: Participated in the study 72 subjects, being 69.4% females, 15.3% with controlled glycemia levels at the moment of the interview, 90.3% were adherent to treatment and 33.3% had depressive symptoms. The prevalence of neuropathic pain was 16.7% and this was associated to time of diabetes mellitus 2 (p=0.031). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of neuropathic pain was similar to that observed in other places of the country and we suggest better follow up of the studied population with regard to depression and adhesion to medication to treat diabetes.

Detection of pain with neuropathic characteristics in patients with diabetes mellitus assisted in primary care units

“…It is worth mentioning that the current study did not investigate the presence of neuropathy, searching only for pain with neuropathic characteristics in individuals with diabetes, since the NP can occur even in the absence of neuropathy 23 . In the current study, there was a predominance of females in 76.74% of the sample, a fact corroborated in other studies with 60 to 70% of women 27,36 . Other studies, however, reported little difference between gender, but still with a female predominance 20,21,24 .…”

“…Such situation also was observed in studies with the DN4 in Istambul 20 , Turkey, with 1,357 diabetics and the prevalence was 23%. In the city of Tubarão 27 in Santa Catarina, with 72 people, it was 16.7%; and in Korea 28 14.4%. On the other hand, a study conducted with 2,358 diabetics Chinese, showed a value below what it is seen in the literature, only 7.6% 29 .…”

“…It is believed that a higher occurrence of NP increases with age 35 . Some authors highlighted the predominance of people above of 60 years of age in the composition of their samples 21,[25][26][27]29 , pointing that senior people have a higher risk to develop NP, since, a great part of the diseases that cause this type of pain has greater incidence with aging 39 . However, some studies showed the prevalence of NP in people with diabetes with an average age below 60 years 20,36 .…”

“…However, there was no statistical significance between the studied groups, as well as in the research conducted in Korea 28 . However, many authors have reported that the time of the diabetes diagnosis is related to the development of NP 25,27,29,45 . The sample was composed of 92.54% of individuals that reported pain in the lower limbs, the majority in the feet, in both groups.…”

Association between depression and neuropathy in people with type 2 diabetes: a meta‐analysis

“…Thirteen studies (Bruce et al ., ; Cortez et al ., ; Jahan et al ., ; Le Floch et al ., ; Lee et al ., ; Moreira et al ., ; Poongothai et al ., ; Pouwer et al ., ; Raval et al ., ; Stanković et al ., ; Téllez‐Zenteno and Cardiel, ; van Steenbergen‐Weijenburg et al ., ; Viinamäki et al ., ) were included for meta‐analyses. Five studies were conducted in Europe, three in Asia and two in South America (Brazil), whereas other studies were from the USA, Mexico and Australia, respectively.…”