None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
In summary, diabetes is a major health concern worldwide with its prevalence continuing to increase. Diabetic neuropathy is associated with pain, loss of sensation, loss of ambulation, decreased quality of life and can ultimately result in amputation. Previous studies have shown that central loss of sensation can be decreased with sensory retraining, particularly in people with chronic sensory loss, proving it is more of a “learned” non-use mechanism. Therefore it can be postulated that a sensory retraining intervention for diabetic patients may improve their peripheral sensory appreciation (via attention and practice) which may ultimately lead to improved health and quality of life.
Interventions
The sensory intervention is based on previous work (Hillier and Dunsford 2006, Lynch et al 2007) and incorporates in each training session a hierarchy of tasks starting with general education about sensation, how it can become altered and the functional consequences of poor sensation. The actual training tasks require the person to practice identifying various sensory stimuli applied randomly across the soles of the foot and they provide responses related to the type of stimulus and the location
The sensory intervention is based on previous work (Hillier and Dunsford 2006, Lynch et al 2007) and incorporates in each training session a hierarchy of tasks starting with general education about sensation, how it can become altered and the functional consequences of poor sensation. The actual training tasks require the person to practice identifying various sensory stimuli applied randomly across the soles of the foot and they provide responses related to the type of stimulus and the location of the stimulus. The progression of the hierarchy involves more sensitive stimuli, and finer discrimination, based on their previous scores. Stimuli begin with pressure monofilaments and temperature (warm versus cold) and progresses to combination stimuli eg a cold floor tile versus softer warm sand. There is also a task of discriminating foot positions where the person is required to more and more accurately discern the foot position (when repositioned by the therapist). Each session will last a half an hour and the person will be seated or lying comfortably throughout. There will be total of 10 sessions over the 2 week period.
Sponsors
University of South Australia
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Primary purpose
Treatment
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
40 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
1. Partial vibratory sensory loss of the lower limb 2. Aged 40-70 years old 3. Able to attend all assessments and interventions 4. Cognitive ability to follow the instructions of the study 5. Give informed consent
Exclusion criteria
1. Complete vibratory sensory loss of the lower limb 2. No vibratory sensory loss of the lower limb 3. Inability to understand or respond to questions and instructions 4. History of sensory deficits from other neurological disorders
Outcome results
None listed