Validity and reliability of a point‐of‐care nerve conduction device in diabetes patients

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: Although nerve conduction study (NCS) using a standard electromyography system (EMGS) is considered to be the gold standard in evaluating diabetic polyneuropathy, this examination requires expensive equipment and well‐trained technicians. We aimed to validate a point‐of‐care device, NC‐stat/DPNCheck™, that has been developed for widespread use of NCS in diabetic polyneuropathy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Diabetes patients underwent two kinds of NCS: DPNCheck™ and electromyography system. Inter‐/intrarater reliability of DPNCheck™ were also determined by the intraclass correlation coefficient. RESULTS: A total of 57 patients were evaluated. The parameters of NCS between the two methods correlated well (r = 0.7734 for the sural nerve conduction velocity, r = 0.6155 for the amplitude of sural nerve action potential). The intraclass correlation coefficients were excellent (intrarater: the velocity 0.767, the amplitude 0.811; interrater: the velocity 0.974, the amplitude 0.834). CONCLUSIONS: The point‐of‐care device has excellent reproducibility and good agreement with standard electromyography system. The device might be useful to evaluate diabetic polyneuropathy.