Pattern of Postural Sway of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy People

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy can cause a loss of sensation in the feet, leading to impaired stability of body balance, and resulting in a risk of falls or slips. In the literature, a considerable number of studies have reported that people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy tend to have trouble keeping posture stable when the equilibrium of body balance is disturbed, even when standing quietly. In general, many studies found differences of postural stability between people with diabetic peripheral neuropathy and without neuropathy. However, little research has been done to find a difference of sway patterns between them. The objective of this study was to characterize the pattern of body sway for finding an effect of peripheral neuropathy on postural control when the stability of posture was disturbed. Pattern of body sway was investigated in terms of placement of center of pressure over the four quadrants during several time intervals such as quiet standing before a perturbation, during the perturbation, and after the perturbation. No significant difference of patterns of body sway was found between diabetic people with and without peripheral neuropathy during quiet standing and for most of considered perturbation directions at low velocity of perturbation. However, when the velocity of perturbation increased, a significant difference of placement of center of pressure was found from the third and fourth quadrants.