Summary
Little information is available as to the exact financial cost of the clinical features of diabetic neuropathy. At least 20% of diabetic patients have a neuropathic problem consisting of either sensory pain and discomfort, foot ulceration or impotence. This represents a large load of clinical work in any diabetes service. Such patients should be offered thorough and sympathetic clinical facilities, from careful diagnosis and assessment through to treatment and counselling, to allow them to accept, and hopefully obtain improvement in, what is essentially an incurable clinical situation. Similarly, the emotional and financial costs to the patients of such a chronic condition have not been adequately assessed. It seems reasonable to suggest that such costs are high, and it is a general impression that patients with this problem do not receive adequate time and attention in many busy diabetes services.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Williams DRR. Hospital admissions of diabetic patients: information from hospital activity analysis. Diabetic Medicine 1984; 2: 27–32. Also in: Boulton AJM. Connor H, editors. The foot in diabetes. International textbook of diabetes mellitus. Chichester: Wiley 1992: 15–24
Dyck PJ. Detection characterisation and staging of polyneuropathy: assessed in diabetics. Muscle Nerve 1988; 11: 21–31
Newrick PG, Boulton AJM, Ward JD. The distribution of diabetic neuropathy in a British clinic population. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 1986; 2: 263–368
Young MJ, Boulton AJM, McCloud AF, et al. A multi-centre study of the prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in a United Kingdom hospital population. Diabetologia 1993; 36: 150–4
Walter DA, Gatling W, Mullee MA, et al. The prevalence of diabetic distal sensory neuropathy in the English community. Diabetic Med 1992; 9: 249–53
Masser RE, Steenkiste AR, Dorman JS, et al. Epidemiological correlates of diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes 1989; 38: 1456–61
Boulton AJM, Hardisty CA, Betts RP, et al. Dynamic foot pressure and other studies of diagnostic and management aids in diabetic neuropathy. Diabetes Care 1983; 6: 26–33
Veves A, Malik RA, Lye RH, et al. The relationship between sural nerve morphometric findings and measures of peripheral nerve function in mild diabetic neuropathy. Diabetic Med 1991; 8: 917–21
Boulton AJM, Armstrong WD, Scarpello JH, et al. The natural history of painful diabetic neuropathy: a four-year study. Postgrad Med J 1983; 59: 556–9
Page M McB, Watkins PJ. Cardio-respiratory arrest and diabetic autonomic neuropathy. Lancet 1978; 1: 14–6
Ewing OJ, Campbell IW, Clarke OF. The natural history of diabetic autonomic neuropathy. Quart1 Med 1980; 49: 95–108
Rathmann W, Ziegler D, Jahnke M, et al. Mortality in diabetic patients with cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy. Diabetic Med 1993; 10: 820–4
McCulloch OK, Campbell IW, Wu FL, et al. The prevalence of diabetic impotence. Diabetologia 1980; 18: 279–83
Stackl W, Hasun R, Marberger M. Intracavernous injection of prostaglandin EJ in impotent men. J Urol 1988; 140: 66–8
Ryder REJ, Close CS, Moriarty KT, etal. Impotence in diabetes: aetiology and implications for treatment and preferred vacuum device. Diabetic Med 1992; 9: 893–8
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ward, J.D. The Cost of Diabetic Neuropathy. Pharmacoeconomics 8 (Suppl 1), 52–54 (1995). https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-199500081-00011
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-199500081-00011