Objective: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major global health concern and is associated with high morbidity and mortality as well as poor quality of life. This health burden is mostly due to complications associated with DM. Cranial nerve neuropathy is not a well-studied complication of DM. In this study, we aimed to study the prevalence and risk factors for the development of cranial neuropathy in diabetic patients.
Patients and methods: This is a cross-sectional study among diabetics who are attending Almanhal Primary Healthcare Center, Abha, Aseer Province, Saudi Arabia. A total of 714 subjects were included, 238 of them were in the study group and 476 were controls chosen randomly from the same community. SPSS program was used to calculate demographic, clinical, and biochemical parameters as well as to measure the statistically significant differences. Analysis was conducted using the SPSS statistical package and p-value lower than or equal to 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The diabetic patients were significantly older than the control group; the mean standard deviation (SD) age was 59.78 (8.26), and 34.04 (9.45) for both study and control groups, respectively. The prevalence of cranial neuropathy was higher in diabetic patients. Among diabetic patients, hyperlipidemia, gestational DM, compliance with DM treatment, and the presence of microvascular complications of DM are significant risk factors for the development of cranial neuropathy.
Conclusions: Our results indicate that the prevalence of cranial neuropathy is higher in the diabetic population than in the non-diabetic population. The oculomotor and trigeminal nerves were the most commonly affected nerves in diabetic patients compared to the abducent and facial nerves in non-diabetic patients.