Renal impairment is one of appropriate predictors of future diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a hospital-based 6-year follow-up study

The relationship between renal impairment and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) remains inconclusive. We aim to investigate the risk factors for the occurrence of DPN in Taiwanese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and focus on renal impairment. A hospital-based study was conducted from 2013 to 2019 and 552 Taiwanese people who had T2DM without DPN at baseline were enrolled. DPN was diagnosed using the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument. Potential risk factors were recorded, including patient’s sociodemographic factors, current medication usage and biochemical markers. As of 2019, 73 developed DPN and 479 had no DPN. The cumulative incidence during the 6-year period was 13.22%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (odds ratio [OR] 0.98, p = 0.005), advanced age (OR 1.06, p = 0.001), increased body weight (OR 1.04, p = 0.018), duration of DM (OR 1.05, p = 0.036) and male gender (OR 3.69, p = 0.011) were significantly associated with future DPN. In addition, patients with T2DM under the age of 65 with higher serum creatinine concentration (OR 8.91, p = 0.005) and higher baseline HbA1C (OR 1.71, p < 0.001) revealed significantly associated with future DPN. In conclusion, this is the first large scaled hospital-based study with long term follow-up to investigate risk factors for DPN in Taiwanese. Lower eGFR and higher serum creatinine concentration, particularly in people under the age of 65, are predictors of future DPN in Taiwanese people with T2DM. Other predictors included advanced age, increased body weight, duration of DM, male gender for all ages and HbA1c in enrolled patients under the age of 65. Our study not only confirms the association between renal impairment and future DPN but also provides a commonly available assessment to predict the future DPN.