Alterations in postural control, gait pattern, and muscle function in diabetes mellitus: does it matter in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with chronic microvascular complications such as neuropathy. The most frequent is diabetic pe-ripheral neuropathy (DPN) which is related to chronic disability and decrease in quality of life. Alterations in postural control, gait per-formance, and muscle function are widely described in the literature. However, the role of other non-neuropathic factors in these altera-tions remains unclear. Although neuropathy is rather rare in children and adolescents with type 1 DM, there is evidence that early chang-es and symptoms might have their onset in the early stages of the disease. On the other hand, there is no evidence on functional changes related to neuromuscular status in the paediatric population with type 1 DM.