AbstractDiabetes is the leading cause for peripheral neuropathy and peripheral neuropathy is the leading complication of diabetes mellitus, which leads to chronic disabling pain, foot ulcers, infections and/or amputations. The objective of this review was to provide an evidence-informed literature update aimed at knowledge translation from experimental to clinical evidence for the use of exercise therapy in people with Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). PubMed-based search for studies was done using search terms ‘(diabetes OR diabetic) AND (neuropathy OR neuropathic) IN title, AND exercise IN title/abstract’ to retrieve relevant evidence on experimental and clinical studies published in English. There were five laboratory-based studies and twenty clinical trials that evaluated the effects, efficacy and effectiveness of exercise therapy programs in population of PDPN. The review findings suggested that supervised aerobic exercise training might be beneficial for people with PDPN, although the heterogeneity of studies limited derivation of recommendations for practice. Other exercise techniques such as strengthening, stretching, balance training require further research prior to their evidence-informed use in clinical practice.
Keywords: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy; Physiotherapy; Rehabilitation; Exercise training; Evidence informed practice