WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Shorouk Shaheen* and Abd Alrazak Hassan

ABSTRACT

Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is one of the most common metabolic disorders; it is a chronic disease that imposes enormous social and economic burdens. Several musculoskeletal complications have been linked to diabetes. These complications greatly affect the quality of patients' lifestyles, so it is necessary to early diagnose and treat these complications. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal complications of the hand in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and their relation to age, sex, duration of diabetes, and fasting plasma glucose levels. Research Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted on 150 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at Tishreen University Hospital in Lattakia, between May 2022 to May 2023. Results: One hundred and fifty patients with type 2 diabetes were included in this study. The prevalence of musculoskeletal (MS) complications of the hand in those patients was 52%. The most common complication studied was trigger finger (TF) with an incidence of 18%, followed by limited joint mobility (LJM) and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) with the same prevalence of 16%, and Dupuytren’s contracture (DC) at 2%. We found a statistically significant relation between type 2 diabetes mellitus and the incidence of musculoskeletal complications of the hand. Long duration of diabetes and poor glycemic control were associated with increased odds of these complications. Female gender was associated with increased odds of CTS, while there was no relation between age and these complications. Conclusions: Musculoskeletal complications of the hand are common in patients with type 2 diabetes, and their occurrence is often related to the duration of diabetes and poor glycemic control. A routine examination with a rheumatologist is necessary to detect and treat these complications.

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