The Musculoskeletal Manifestations of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Kashmiri Population

Diabetes mellitus (DM), is affecting an ever increasing number of people worldwide. Diabetes is associated with several musculoskeletal manifestations. These may involve, the upper as well as the lower limb. We conducted this study to find out the prevalence of musculoskeletal problems in type 2 diabetics in the Kashmiri population.

The study was conducted on 403 patients with diabetes and 300 controls. All patients underwent screening for any musculoskeletal abnormalities. The patients with musculoskeletal abnormalities were further assessed to find the exact diagnosis according to predefined criteria.

The hand was involved in 80 patients [19.8%] in the diabetic group and 15 (5%) patients of the control group. The elbow was affected in 56 patients [14%] in the diabetic group and 24 patients [5.9%] in the non-diabetic group. The shoulder involvement was diagnosed in 61 patients [15%] on the diabetic cohort and 15 patients in the non-diabetic cohort. All the upper limb figures showed a statistically significant difference i.e. P value <0.05.

The prevalence of musculoskeletal complications in type 2 diabetics in Kashmir is quite high.