Complexity Measures of Postural Control in Type-2 Diabetic Subjects

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2019 Jul:2019:3527-3530. doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2019.8856812.

Abstract

Balance maintenance is commonly analyzed by evaluating the center of pressure (COP) displacement, which presents an acknowledged non-stationary behavior. The latter led to an evaluation of COP regularity through complexity measures such as the approximate (AppEn) and sample entropy (SampEn). These indexes quantify the regularity of time-series in terms of inner pattern recurrence; however, they are highly dependent on the input parameters used for their computation. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the use of the AppEn, SampEn and a recently proposed entropy measure, the fuzzy entropy (FuzzyEn) for the analysis of COP time-series in type-2 diabetic subjects with and without neuropathy during quiet standing trials in eyes open condition. Results highlighted consistency of entropy measures for different values of input parameters, showing significant differences between the two populations in terms of COP regularity for both anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions. Findings of this study outline low complexity in postural control of neuropathic subjects, also in the medial-lateral direction, which could indicate a limited capacity of producing adaptable responses, relying on fixed balance control patterns. Further, they support the use of complexity measures for the analysis of patients with diabetic neurological impairment.

MeSH terms

  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / complications
  • Diabetic Neuropathies* / diagnosis
  • Entropy
  • Humans
  • Postural Balance*
  • Posture
  • Standing Position