COMMON MUSCULOSKELETAL DISORDERS IN DIABETES MELLITUS PATIENTS

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of common musculoskeletal disorders complications among type 1 and type 2 diabetic mellitus patients and to find the association with BMI. Also to assess the level of awareness about Physical Therapy among diabetic patients. METHODS A cross-sectional (descriptive) survey of diabetic patients aged above 35 years with a history of minimum 5 years of disease, taken from physical therapy unit of Karachi Pakistan. It was conducted through self-administered structured performa, 375 patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were selected and studied. Analysis was carried out using the statistical package for social sciences. RESULT There were 42.1% males and 57.9% females participated in the study. More than 90% participants were type 2 diabetics. The most common manifestations were osteoarthritis affecting both extremities (n=238), frozen shoulder (n=176), tendinitis (n=55) and fibromyalgia (n=50) noticed in both types of DM. A significant association was found between BMI and the duration of disease with respect to type 2 DM. More than half of the participants were aware of the various effects of physical therapy in diabetes.