title: Movement hyperacuity threshold deficit in juvenile onset diabetes mellitus.
abstract: Oscillatory movement displacement thresholds from a group of 18 normal children (mean age of 9.2 +/- 3.6 years) were compared with those obtained from a group of 26 age-matched children (mean age of 9.9 +/- 2.9 years) having insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Disease durations ranged from 6 months to 12 years, although no ophthalmoscopic evidence of retinopathy was found in any subject. Up to about 8 years of age there is no significant difference in the performance of diabetics and controls (t = 1.00, p = n.s.), oscillatory movement displacement thresholds correlating with age in both groups (r= -0.59, p < 0.02). Over about 8 years of age oscillatory movement displacement thresholds no longer improve and the two groups perform significantly differently, thresholds being degraded in the insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus group compared to normals (t = 5.25, p <<0.0001). It is suggested that the measurement of oscillatory movement displacement thresholds in children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus can reveal its effects in the absence of retinopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry, University of Bradford, UK.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Buckingham
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Beh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009039:Motion Perception; D012016:Reference Values; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D014792:Visual Acuity