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Sensitivity and specificity of von Frey's hairs for the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Journal of Diabetes and its Complications, 06/21/2012
Moharic M et al. – Von Frey's hairs have moderate sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of neurophysiological and also clinical neuropathy. Being a fast and easy–to–perform procedure, they could be appropriate as a screening test in clinical practice.
Methods- 65 patients with type-2 diabetes (33 men) with mean age 62.1 (SD 6.5) years, mean diabetes duration 17.5 (SD 9) years and mean symptom duration 5.2 (SD 4.3) years were examined with the set of von Frey's hairs.
- Diabetic neuropathy was diagnosed trough Neuropathy Disability Score (NDS). NCSs were performed on ulnar, peroneal, tibial and sural nerves.
- Sensitivity of von Frey's hairs vs. NCS as the gold standard ranged from 37% to 79% and specificity from 65% to 87%.
- Sensitivity vs. combination of NDS and NCS ranged from 38% to 85% and specificity from 62% to 85%.
