Advanced age and elevated cholesterol predict diabetic neuropathy in patients with type II diabetes mellitus in Southern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic neuropathy is the debilitating most common and expensive complication of diabetes that can cause significant mortality and morbidity, resulting from foot ulceration, lower extremity amputation, and pain that reduces the quality of life. The majority of type II diabetes mellitus patients continue to develop diabetic neuropathy despite optimal glycemic control, and the identification of predictors for diabetic neuropathy is important. Thus, this study aimed to determine the predictors of diabetic neuropathy in patients with type II diabetes mellitus in Ethiopia. METHODS: A hospital-based retrospective longitudinal follow-up study was conducted from January 2012 to December 2021 in patients with type II diabetes. Simple random sampling was used to select study participants, and data were collected by reviewing the medical records. Stata version 14 was used for the statistical analysis. A bivariable and multivariable Cox regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of diabetic neuropathy. The goodness of the model fitness was checked via the Cox-Snell residual. A p-value less than 0.05 was used to declare the statistical significance of the variables. RESULTS: The incidence density of diabetic neuropathy was 3.56 cases per 1,000 person months of observation, and the median time to develop diabetic neuropathy was 105 months. Advanced age (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 1.03 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.06)) and total cholesterol ≥ 200 mg/dl (AHR 2.52 (95% CI: 1.25, 5.09)) were statistically significant predictors of diabetic neuropathy. CONCLUSION: Advanced age and hypercholesterolemia were significantly associated predictors with diabetic neuropathy. Healthcare providers need to monitor cholesterol levels in order to prevent or delay diabetic neuropathy development in patients with type 2 diabetes.