Diabetes does not affect motor recovery after intracerebral hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: This retrospective study evaluated whether diabetes affects motor outcome after stroke by analyzing the effects of diabetes on motor prognosis by controlling for critical factors, including lesion type and location, corticospinal tract (CST) state, patient age, lesion volume, and treatment method during the stroke. METHODOLOGY: We recruited 221 patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) of the basal ganglia. We used diffusion tensor tractography to investigate the CST state. We also evaluated the hemorrhage volume. We obtained information on the presence of diabetes and age by chart review. Motor outcomes at 6 months were measured using the upper and lower limb motricity index (MI), modified Brunnstrom classification (MBC), and functional ambulation category (FAC). We used multiple linear regression tests to investigate whether diabetes affected motor outcomes after stroke after adjusting for other factors, including CST state, age, lesion volume, and treatment method. RESULTS: The presence of diabetes was not correlated with motor outcome measurements, including upper and lower MIs, MBC, and FAC, at 6 months after the onset. However, the CST state, age, lesion volume, and treatment method were significantly correlated with nearly all motor outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: We found that diabetes did not significantly affect motor outcomes after ICH.