The prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in an outpatient setting

This study was undertaken to clinically estimate the prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy amongst patients attending an outpatient clinic and to evaluate their risk factors for developing peripheral neuropathy. It was a cross-sectional study of 134 diabetes mellitus patients who attended the Primary Care Clinic, University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. The patients were interviewed for their demographic data, past and present medical/surgical history, social history, personal habits and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. Foot examination and clinical neurological tests were conducted and the presence of peripheral neuropathy was assessed. The main outcome measures were the Neuropathy Symptom Score and the Neuropathy Disability Score. The prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy was found to be 50.7%. Peripheral neuropathy was related to the age of the patient and the duration of diabetes but did not seem to be significantly related to diabetic control. To conclude, there was a high prevalence of peripheral neuropathy amongst the diabetics in this study. These patients developed peripheral neuropathy at a younger age and shorter duration of diabetes compared to a similar study that was done in the UK.