Abstract
Objective: To determine whether there is an
impact of diabetic neuropathy on balance and fall
risks in diabetes type 2 patients.
Methodology: It is a cross sectional study that
involved diabetes type 2 patients aged between 40
to 60 years with neuropathy, confirmed by
Michigan neuropathy screening scoring. Study
excluded the patients with ongoing comorbidities
and neuropathies of other cause. This study
included 196 patients. Data were collected through
non probability purposive sampling technique from
3 different hospitals in Lahore (Services Hospital,
Jinnah Hospital and Surgimed Hospital). Three
measures were used for each parameter of the
study, Michigan neuropathy screening instrument
for neuropathy, Timed up and Go Test for balance
assessment and Fall Efficacy Scale International
for fall risk assessment. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 5.Results: Out of 196 patients, only 16(8%) had no
neuropathy and 180(92%) had considerable
neuropathy with mean score of 17.8954 on
Michigan neuropathy instrument. For TUG test,
148(75.5%) patients were labelled slow and
48(24.5%) as normal. For fall efficacy scale
international, 80(41%) patients were completely
independent and other 116(59%) were moderate
to completely dependent, defining the fear of fall
that each patient had.
