Discussion
Principal findings
The analysis of the data from the SHR and the NDR from 2004 and 2019 showed markedly higher prevalences of all diagnoses studied, that is, CTS, TF, DD, UNE, and OA of the CMC-1 joint, among both men and women with T1D or T2D, compared with the population without DM.
Furthermore, both populations with T1D and T2D had more concomitant prevalent diagnoses when comparing with the population without DM. Finally, the 10-year incidence of all diagnoses was higher among the populations with T1D and T2D compared with the population without DM, with the exception of OA of the CMC-1 joint among men with T1D. This study adds longitudinal, large-scale population-based data confirming that the entity ‘the diabetic hand’ should include both nerve compression syndromes, such as CTS and UNE, and disorders with impaired range of motion, like TF and DD, and possibly also OA of the CMC-1 joint. Care should be taken when examining patients with hand problems and concurrent DM, bearing in mind the increased prevalences of all diagnoses in this study in the population with diabetes.
Compression neuropathies
The most common CN in the upper extremity is CTS, followed by UNE.
The present results show that the prevalences of both CTS and UNE are three to four times higher among both the populations with T1D and T2D, compared with the population without DM. These results are in line with several previous studies on DM and CTS.15 16 Although the epidemiological data on UNE are scarce, and the number of large cohort studies on UNE is limited,17 the findings from this study corroborate both our previous work on identification of risk factors for CN4 and electrophysiological studies on UNE.3 18
Several structural and biochemical processes have been proposed as to why CNs are more common among the population with DM. These include deposition of glycated proteins, so called advanced glycation end products (AGEs), in the nerve and surrounding tissue possibly limiting nerve blood supply.19 20 Furthermore, nerve swelling and edema due to deposition of intracellular hyperosmotic proteins,3 and alteration of the small microvessels surrounding the nerve,21 22 might further decrease the blood supply to the nerve. Finally, biopsies from the posterior interosseous nerve among patients with DM and concurrent CTS have shown a reduction in nerve fiber density compared with controls, indicating a predisposition for nerve compressions among patients with DM.21
Taking this together, pathologic structural and biochemical alterations in the peripheral nerve and surrounding tissue due to DM and chronic hyperglycemia might lower the threshold for symptom development when the nerve is compressed, and thus increase the prevalences of CTS and possibly also UNE.4
TF and DD
Both TF and DD are considered to be fibroproliferative disorders with alterations in the flexor tendon pulley system23 and palmar apeneurosis,24 respectively. The exact pathophysiology behind the diagnoses is still not fully understood, especially in the presence of DM.1 Nevertheless, several biochemical processes have been proposed in earlier studies as to why there is an increased risk of TF and DD among the population with DM. For DD, these include increased deposition of AGEs in the palmar fascia due to hyperglycemia and possible conversion of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts.1 25 26 Regarding TF, a similar explanation has been proposed with chronic hyperglycemia leading to glycosylation and collagen deposition in the tendon sheet,1 possibly thickening the tendon sheet and particularly the A1 pulley. Alterations in collagen degradation due to chronic hyperglycemia have also been proposed.27 However, the number of biochemical studies on TF and DM is to the best of our knowledge very limited, making this issue an obvious target for further research.
The results from our study indicate that the prevalences of both TF and DD are marked higher among both the population with T1D and T2D. Over 14% of the women with T1D had a diagnosis of TF during 2004–2019; an incidence that was eight times higher compared with the population without DM. Similar results were found both among men with T1D and T2D. Our results corroborate several previous studies on the impact of DM on the risks of TF and DD26 28–30; however, our study adds large-scale population-based data supporting that both TF and DD should be included in the concept of ‘the diabetic hand’.
OA of the CMC-1 joint
OA of the CMC-1 joint is a common hand disorder, especially among elderly women. Symptoms include pain and weakness of the thumb, ultimately resulting in loss of function and mobility.31 OA has been thoroughly studied in the presence of DM yielding conflicting results, and a potential causal association between the diagnoses is yet to be established.5 32–35 Moreover, a BMI has been associated with OA, both of the hip and knee joint, but also with general hand OA and OA of the CMC-1 joint.36–38 At the same time, a high BMI is a major risk factor for the development of T2D,39 and also increasingly common among individuals with T1D.40
In our study, the prevalences of OA of the CMC-1 joint were higher among both men and women with T1D and T2D compared with the population without DM and, with the exception of men with T1D, the 10-year incidences were also higher among the populations with DM. Nevertheless, due to the observational, retrospective design of our study, we cannot draw any conclusions regarding causality of this finding. Thus, although the prevalence of OA of the CMC-1 joint was slightly higher among both individuals with T1D and T2D, the causal relationship between the diagnoses is still under debate and our results must be interpreted with this in mind.
In future studies aiming to investigate a potential causal link between DM and OA of the CMC-1 joint, BMI and other potential confounding factors that were not available in this study have to be taken into account and adjusted for.32
Strengths and limitations
The major strength of this study is the large, population-based data on over 1.1 million inhabitants in the region of Skåne. The Swedish 10-digit personal identification number unique for every Swedish citizen, allowing cross-linkage of registries and large-scale epidemiological studies within this region,9 makes this study one of the largest epidemiological studies of diabetic hand complications. Another strength is the inclusion of data from primary care as well as from the NDR with nationwide coverage, enabling stratification for T1D and T2D. Studies only including data from specialized, hospital-based care might underestimate the true prevalence of a diagnosis since not all cases are referred from a primary care physician. Our study included diagnoses from both primary care and hospital-based care, thus hopefully coming closer to the true prevalence of the diagnoses. However, our data do only reflect the prevalence and incidence of individuals diagnosed by a physician, and there are undeniably individuals who are only treated by an occupational therapist or do not receive healthcare at all for their hand symptoms. With this in mind, our results reflect clinically relevant data compared with studies investigating the prevalence in the general population, for example, survey studies. Furthermore, since all patients had been diagnosed by a physician, the case validity in our study ought to be high, compared with studies with self-reported data.
Nevertheless, due to the observational nature of the present data, it is important to mention that we are not able to draw any conclusions regarding casual relationships or pathophysiological mechanisms between DM and the diagnoses studied, even though their prevalences indeed were higher both among individuals with T1D and T2D. As previously discussed, there are confounding factors, for example, BMI, that might partly explain the present findings, or actually being a cause to development of, for example, neuropathy, rendering nerves more susceptible to compression.
The reported associations must therefore be interpreted together with previous studies, and meta-analyses would be helpful in order to be able to draw any conclusions regarding the impact of DM on the diagnoses studied.
Moreover, there might be additional diagnoses associated with the diabetic hand. For example, limited joint mobility, which in previous studies have been associated with DM,1 would have been interesting to be included in this study. Unfortunately, the ICD-10 code for LJT is not as well defined as for the other diagnoses studied, leading to difficulties registering the diagnosis in SHR. A case–control study on patients with T1D and T2D would probably be more suitable for studying LJT in Sweden.
Finally, the study only included data from 2004 to 2019, since the coverage rate of SHR drastically increased in 2004,9 and consequently, patients diagnosed before 2004 were not included. Thus, the true prevalence might be higher than described in our data; however, the main results should not have been affected by this. Nevertheless, it is important to mention and should be kept in mind when interpreting the results from our study.