Eureka! Institutional Repository

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major public health problem worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that the number of adults with diabetes in the world will increase from 135 million in 1995 to 300 million in 2025. One study showed that the prevalence of DM is around (23.7%) in 2004 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and another recent study showed that there was a significant increase in prevalence, which was 30% in 2011, with 34.1% for men and 27.6% for women. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is considered to be one of the most common complications seen in up to 50% of patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes that lead to significant morbidity, discomfort and are associated with increased mortality depending on severity. Nerve conduction studies, especially nerve conduction velocities, are considered to be one of the most sensitive markers of neuropathy severity and were used to identify the lesions and describe the type and severity of the pathophysiological process including changes in function that are not recognized clinically. The results of the research section showed that the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy in this study was 51%.