High prevalence of diabetic neuropathy in population-based patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the Shanghai downtown

Abstract Aims To determine the prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and risk factors associated with DPN in type 2 diabetic patients. Methods 435 diabetic patients were evaluated on complete foot examination. Body mass measurements, resting blood pressure, fasting blood measures, urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and the digitally stored fundus images were investigated. Results (1) The prevalence of DPN was 61.8% among the Chinese patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes aged over 30 in the Shanghai downtown, 59.1% with vibration perception threshold ≥25 V and 13.8% with inability to feel the monofilament. (2) DPN was significantly associated with age ( β : 0.068, S.E.: 0.013, OR: 1.070, CI: 1.043–1.098, P β : 0.224, S.E.: 0.081, OR: 1.251, CI: 1.067–1.466, P  = 0.006) by a logistic regression analysis. (3) The percentage of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the DPN group (26.5%) was significantly higher than that in the non-DPN group (15.2%). (4) The percentage of macroalbuminuria in the DPN group (9.0%) was significantly higher than that in the non-DPN group (1.8%). Conclusions The prevalence of DPN observed in the Chinese patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes aged over 30 in the Shanghai downtown reached up to 61.8% though the observations in our study might be representative of the diabetic patients of the Shanghai downtown.