Dupuytren's disease: association with chronic diabetic complications.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence of Dupuytren's disease and its association with the clinical characteristics in subjects with type I (insulin dependent) and II (non-insulin dependent) diabetes. To examine the association between Dupuytren's disease and chronic diabetic complications. METHODS We studied 297 patients with type I [age (mean +/- SD) 33.2 +/- 10.0 yrs] and 139 with type II diabetes [age 61.3 +/- 12.3 yrs]. We investigated the presence of Dupuytren's disease, limited joint mobility, and the following complications: retinopathy, micro- and macroalbuminuria, and somatic peripheral symmetrical polyneuropathy (neuropathy). RESULTS The prevalence of Dupuytren's disease was 14% in type II patients; prevalence was the same in both sexes. Dupuytren's was associated with age and duration of diabetes in type I patients (p < 0.001). Its presence was significantly related to retinopathy, neuropathy, limited joint mobility, and shoulder capsulitis in type I and to macroalbuminuria in type II patients, by chi-squared test. However, all these associations, except to macroalbuminuria in type II subjects, disappeared when the confounding effect of age and duration of diabetes was controlled by logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION The prevalence of Dupuytren's was the same in type I and II subjects although type I subjects were younger. No sex difference of the prevalence of Dupuytren's was seen in patients with diabetes. The disease was associated with macroalbuminuria in type II subjects independent of time related variables. Other associations between Dupuytren's disease and diabetic complications were explained by time related variables in type I and in type II subjects.