The effects of diabetes and/or peripheral neuropathy in detecting short postural perturbations in mature adults

BACKGROUND: This study explored the effects of diabetes mellitus (DM) and peripheral neuropathy (PN) on the ability to detect near-threshold postural perturbations. METHODS: 83 subjects participated; 32 with type II DM (25 with PN and 7 without PN), 19 with PN without DM, and 32 without DM or PN. Peak acceleration thresholds for detecting anterior platform translations of 1 mm, 4 mm, and 16 mm displacements were determined. A 2(DM) × 2(PN) factorial MANCOVA with weight as a covariate was calculated to compare acceleration detection thresholds among subjects who had DM or did not and who had PN or did not. RESULTS: There was a main effect for DM but not for PN. Post hoc analysis revealed that subjects with DM required higher accelerations to detect a 1 mm and 4 mm displacement. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that PN may not be the only cause of impaired balance in people with DM. Clinicians should be aware that diabetes itself might negatively impact the postural control system.