• Zhen-Fei Li, Xiao-Li Niu, Ling-Ling Nie, Li-Ping Chen, Cui-Fang Cao, and Li Guo.
• Department of Neurology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
• Arch Med Sci. 2023 Jan 1; 19 (5): 120112061201-1206.

IntroductionThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of different tendon reflexes in detecting diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).Material And MethodsAccording to the changes in tendon reflexes, all patients with diabetes were divided into three strata: impaired Achilles reflex only, impaired lower extremity reflexes, and impaired lower and upper extremity reflexes. Taking nerve conduction studies (NCS) as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive ability of the tendon reflexes of these three strata, as well as the Toronto clinical scoring system (TCSS) and Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI), were calculated. Then, the electrophysiological characteristics of diabetic patients with different tendon reflexes were analysed.ResultsAmong the 240 patients studied, 92 (38.3%) presented evidence of neuropathy, which was confirmed by abnormal NCS, while 148 (61.7%) had normal NCS results. Taking NCS as the gold standard, stratum 1 yielded a sensitivity and specificity of 93.5% and 54.7%, respectively, while stratum 3 had higher specificity (96.6%) and lower sensitivity (34.8%) when compared to stratum 1. However, stratum 2 had the highest specificity (75.7%).ConclusionsThe assessment of tendon reflexes can be proposed as a test for screening diabetic polyneuropathy.Copyright: © 2020 Termedia & Banach.

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