title: Neuropathy of type 1 diabetes in the Arab world: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a common disease in the Arab nations, there is no data available on the prevalence of peripheral neuropathy (PN) among T1D subjects in Arab countries. The aim of this study is to analyze the prevalence of PN in T1D subjects via published literature and to draw attention to the dearth of the published work in this serious complication of T1D.
  
  
  METHODS
  A meta-analysis was performed on studies representing different Arab countries with a total number of 2243 T1D subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pooled prevalence of PN among T1D subjects in the Arab region was estimated as 18% with 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.09-0.34. The PN prevalence was significantly higher in the >16-yr age group, with 59.1% (95% CI: 0.45-0.72) compared to 9.5% (95% CI: 0.05-0.19) in the <16-yr age group. Furthermore, the PN prevalence was significantly higher in the group with more than 10-yr T1D, 35% (95% CI: 0.15-0.62) than in the group with less than 10-yr T1D, 9.4% (95% CI: 0.04-0.21).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Arab countries, PN is common in adults and children with T1D, but prevalence varies widely. Older age Arab people (>16years) with T1D are affected more with PN than younger age Arab people (<16years). PN is more frequently present in Arab subjects with a longer duration of T1D diabetes than in those with shorter duration.
authors.affiliation: Sidra Medical and Research Center, Translational Medicine, Qatar Foundation, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: uabdelmotal@sidra.org.
authors.forename: Ussama M
authors.initials: UM
authors.lastname: Abdel-Motal
authors.affiliation: Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, P.O. Box 5825, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Essam M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Abdelalim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Haissam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abou-Saleh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: hatem.zayed@qu.edu.qa.
authors.forename: Hatem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zayed
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018643:Arab World; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Arab nations; Meta-analysis; Neuropathy; Peripheral; Prevalence; Type 1 diabetes