Effect of concurrent cognitive task on postural sway in type - II diabetic individuals with and without sensorimotor polyneuropathy.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetic neuropathy is one of the serious microvascular complications o f diabetes. Impaired sensation of lower limbs due to diabetic neuropathy can lead to unsteady posture and increases the risk of fall. The automaticity of postural control decreases with reduced sensory feedback. Dual task assessment detecting the proportion of attentional requirements may aid in early identification and prompt management of postural instabilities. The aim of the study was to identify the effect of concurrent cognitive task on postural sway in type II diabetic individuals with and without neuropathy. STUDY DESIGN: Comparative study design. PARTICIPANTS: 30 type II diabetic individuals satisfying the selection criteria were grouped into diabetic without neuropathy and diabetic neuropathy group based on Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument. PROCEDURE: Postural sway was measured in 8 different conditions with the individual standing on a firm surface with feet close together. The subjects performed four levels of cognitive task (no task, cognitive task I,II,III) in eyes open and closed condit ion. OUTCOME MEASURE: In each experimental condition postural sway was measured using sway meter for 30 secs. The peak to peak ant-post, med-lat sway was calculated manually from the recorded graph sheet. RESULTS: The results indicated that the concurrent cognitive tasks on standing produced same effect on sway as that of standing with no task. Even though mean differences existed between diabetic without neuropathy (AP = 19.8±7.2,ML = 19.8±7.23) and diabetic neuropathy group(AP = 22.1±8.73,ML = 23.8±11.5), it failed to elicit a statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The concurrent application of cognitive tasks on standing, showed no effect on the postural sway between diabetic without neuropathy and diabetic neuropathy group