Gait and balance disorder in elderly adults and its relation to diabetes mellitus type 2

OBJECTIVE: To identify the association between diabetes mellitus type 2 and gait/ balance disorder in a retired military geriatric population. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective cohort study, database secondary analysis was done. Gait and balance disorder was evaluated in a population of retired military personnel from January 2010 to December 2015. An analysis was performed to assess the association of type 2 diabetes mellitus and gait and balance disorder with a Cox regression model, adjusted for age, sex, military rank, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, body mass index, polypharmacy, physical activity, physical performance and osteoarthritis. RESULTS: There were included 1422 retired military patients. The mean age was 77.9 ± 8.5 years. Older adults who had and had not diabetes mellitus 2 were 240 (16.8%) and 1182 (83.1%), respectively. A total of 794 (55.8%) patients had gait and balance disorder. Also, 50% of diabetic patients and 57% of non-diabetics had gait and balance disorder. CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus 2 increases gait and balance disorder risk by 1.25 times.