Study of Cognitive Evoked Potentials in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: The completesyndrome of diabetes mellitus,related metabolic aberrations anddiabetic complications is posing a major threat in the 21^st century. Cognitive dysfunction is a well known complication of diabetes which continues to be investigated.

Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the cognitive functions using electrophysiological (P₃₀₀ latencies) tests in diabetics and non diabetics in the age group of 40 - 59 years with same gender proportion, to analyze whether cognition is affected in diabetics when compared to non diabetics and to know the usefulness of electrophysiological (P₃₀₀latencies) tests in detecting subtle cognitive changes.

Materials and Method: The study was conducted on 50 diabetics and 50 non diabetics aged between 40 and 59 years. Cognition was assessed using P₃₀₀ potential.The evoked potential data analysis was done using Student unpaired T test to compare the mean of two groups.

Results: The absolute peak latencies of P₃ component of endogenous cognitive evoked potentials was significantly prolonged among diabetics (334.8 + 20.8) as compared to controls (285.7 + 14.9). There was no statistically significant difference between groups when analyzed for N₂ in C_zand F_z.

Conclusion: This study identifies prevalence of cognitive dysfunction in diabetic patients when assessed using electrophysiological tests.Good cognitive function is critical to safely manage diabetesand draws attention to various challenges in their management. Clinicians should consider screening for cognitive function in diabetics using P₃₀₀, as it is effective in detecting subtle changes much before their clinical manifestation.