Postural control mechanisms during quiet standing in patients with diabetic sensory neuropathy

The objective of the present study was to compare postural mechanisms identified by using dual force platform in healthy elderly community-dwelling subjects and diabetic sensory neuropathy (DSN) patients under different visual conditions.

The presence and the severity of the sensory neuropathy was evaluated with a clinical scale. Postural mechanisms and motor strategies of the ankle and hip joints were quantified by testing subjects in quiet stance on a dual force platform under two visual conditions (eyes open and eyes closed). Root mean square (RMS) values of the center of pressure (COP) time-varying signals and normalized cross-correlation function were used to estimate the contribution and the interdependence of postural control mechanisms.

DSN patients show larger RMS values of the COP(net) displacement in both anteroposterior and mediolateral (ML) directions. Motor strategies at the ankle joints are altered in DSN patients compared with healthy elderly subjects particularly in the ML direction.

This experiment is the first to highlight that even with vision, postural mechanisms at the ankle joints are impaired in DSN patients during quiet standing. Our results point out the importance of focusing on postural control instability in ML of DSN patients.