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The tuning fork revisited.
Journal article

The tuning fork revisited.

  • 1990-12-01
Published in:
  • Diabetic medicine : a journal of the British Diabetic Association. - 1990
Aged
Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetic Neuropathies
Female
Foot Diseases
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neurologic Examination
Reference Values
Skin Ulcer
Vibration
English The performance of the Rydel-Seiffer graduated tuning fork was examined in healthy subjects and in various groups of diabetic patients in order to evaluate its efficacy for identifying patients whose loss of vibration sensation may expose them to the risk of foot injury. Vibration perception score measured with the tuning fork declined with age (p less than 0.001) in the control subjects. It correlated well (r = -0.90, p less than 0.001) with the thresholds obtained with an electromagnetic instrument (Vibrameter) in diabetic patients, in whom vibration perception score was impaired compared with control subjects (4.0 +/- 1.8 (+/- SD) vs 5.4 +/- 1.4, p less than 0.001). Age-related Rydel-Seiffer tuning fork vibration sensation was impaired in 79% of 38 ulcerated feet of 26 patients. The tuning fork score was less than or equal to 4.0 in 95% of the ulcerated feet. We conclude that the Rydel-Seiffer graduated tuning fork is a suitable tool for screening for sensation loss and that diabetic patients with a tuning-fork score of less than or equal to 4.0 are vulnerable to ulceration.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/26416
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