Prevalence, severity and factors associated with peripheral neuropathy among newly diagnosed diabetic patients attending Mulago hospital: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Aims: To determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) among newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus patients in Mulago Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 248 newly diagnosed adult diabetic patients. Using the standard Neuropathy Symptom Score (NSS) and Neuropathy Disability Score (NDS) criteria, we screened them for neuropathy. Data on the socio-demographics, age, duration of symptoms and history of diabetic ulcer were analyzed using a multiple logistic regression. A p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The majority of study patients (62.1%) were male. The overall prevalence of DPN was 29.4 %. Nearly sixteen percent had moderate neuropathy and only five percent had severe neuropathy. Age above 60 years was significantly associated with the presence of DPN; (OR 3.72; 95% CI 1.25 -11.03; p=0.018). The history of ever having a foot ulcer was significantly associated with peripheral neuropathy (OR 2.59; 95% CI: 1.03 -6.49, p = 0.042). Conclusion: DPN occurs in 1 in 4 of newly diagnosed diabetic patients in Mulago hospital. Two thirds of these patients had moderate to severe neuropathy. DPN was independently associated with increasing age. Early diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, increased diabetes knowledge and regular blood sugar screenings would play an important role in identifying this problem.

Prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Totally, 1,278 studies were retrieved, of which, 1,261 studies were found from six international databases and the remaining 17 were through manual search. Databases includes; PubMed 161 [44,45], 2 research paper from Egypt [46,47],the remaining was from Ghana [15],Uganda [48],and Tanzania [49]. The highest prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (83.4%) and the lowest (7.5%) were reported from Nigeria.…”

Prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A total of 23 studies with 269,691 study participants were included in this meta-analysis. Overall information regarding the prevalence of DPN in DM patients was obtained from various countries across Africa including 10 studies from Nigeria [14, 18-20, 22, 37-41], four from Ethiopia [16,24,42,43], two from Cameroon [23,44], two from Sudan [45,46], two from Egypt [47,48], and one each from Ghana [15], Uganda [49], and Tanzania [50]. The highest and lowest prevalence of DPN was 83.4% [22] and 7.5% [41] respectively, which were reported from Nigeria.…”

Prevalencia y factores de riesgo de neuropatía diabética periférica en pacientes recientemente diagnosticados de diabetes mellitus tipo 2 en un hospital nacional

“…19 Mientras que otros estudios realizados en países de bajos a medianos ingresos como India y Pakistán encontraron prevalencia de 10,5 % a 29 %. 20,21 En nuestro país, no hay ningún estudio que haya evaluado la prevalencia de NDP en pacientes con reciente diagnóstico de DM; y en América Latina, solo se ha realizado un estudio similar en la población argentina. Sereday y col. 22 encontraron una prevalencia de NDP de 27,5 % en pacientes con DM de diagnóstico reciente.…”