Association between Hemoglobin and Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy at Different Glycosylated Hemoglobin Levels in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients
Abstract Background: To investigate the possible association of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and serum hemoglobin levels in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with different glycosylated hemoglobin levels.Methods: A total of 995 patients were involved in this retrospective cross-sectional study. Laboratory medical data and electromyography results from the patients were collected. The patients were divided into five groups according to their HbA1c levels (Group 1: HbA1c ≤7%, Group 2: HbA1c 7% to ≤8%, Group 3: HbA1c 8% to ≤9%, Group 4: 9% to ≤10%, and Group 5: >10%). Differences in clinical data in the five groups were compared. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and binary logistic regression analysis were used. All analyses were performed using SPSS 24 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). P value < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance.Results: A correlation was found between the prevalence of DPN and anemia in both sex groups. Age, BMI, duration of diabetes, ALT, serum creatinine, TC, TG, LDL, FPG, FCP, and hemoglobin A1c differed to a statistically significant extent in different groups. Group 5 showed the highest prevalence of DPN in both sex groups. Hemoglobin levels were higher in Group 5 than in other groups, while composition of anemia was not statistically different. Binary logistic regression showed hemoglobin to be negatively related to the prevalence of DPN in Group 5 in men and in Group 4 in women.Conclusion: Hemoglobin level was negatively associated with the occurrence of DPN at the HbA1c level of >10% in men and 9 to 10% in women in T2DM patients. HbA1c must be considered in exploring the correlation between hemoglobin and DPN.