Influence of diabetic neuropathy on gait complexity

Abstract

Introduction: Human gait is a complex movement dependent on multilevel neural control, which allows a consistent, regular and complex periodic pattern, properties that characterize it as a nonlinear system. Sensory and motor deficits, with diminished proprioceptive responses, may reduce the adaptive capacity of the system, as demonstrated in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases. However, little is known about the effect of peripheral diabetic neuropathy on these responses. Objectives: To analyze the influence of peripheral diabetic neuropathy on entropy in different gait environments. Methods: Ten elderly patients, with and without a diag-nosis of peripheral diabetic neuropathy, walked on a treadmill (initial speed of 3 km/h, with 0.5 km/h increments every 5 minutes up to the speed of 5 km/h) to record center of mass acceleration in the vertical, mediolateral and anteroposterior components throughout the test. The sample entropy of the three vectors was calculated for each test speed. Results: The vertical component did not show any statistically significant differences. The mediolateral component showed statistically significant difference for the factors group, speed, and interaction between factors (group and speed). The anteroposterior component showed statistically significant differences for the group factor, but not for speed and interaction between factors (group and speed). Effect sizes classified as large were found in all the comparisons. Conclusions: Peripheral diabetic neuropathy produced changes in the ability to adapt to changes in the environment during gait, probably due to changes in the complexity of the multilevel neural control system, which depends on motor and sensory feedback, known to be affected by peripheral diabetic neuropathy. Level of Evidence II; Diagnostic studies-Investigating a diagnostic test.