Periarthritis: another duration-related complication of diabetes mellitus.

The association between periarthritis of the shoulder and diabetes mellitus is well recognized. A study of 100 hospitalized patients with diabetes was performed, comparing them with 100 control subjects. The mean +/- SEM age of the subjects was 47 +/- 2 yr. Nineteen percent of the patients with diabetes had periarthritis. The afflicted subjects had a higher incidence of retinopathy (P less than 0.005) and albuminuria (P less than 0.005). The duration of shoulder pain correlated with the duration of the diabetes mellitus (P less than 0.001). However, the presence of other complications in subjects with periarthritis was not as well correlated with the duration of the diabetes mellitus. These data emphasize the common occurrence of periarthritis in subjects with diabetes mellitus and its extension to people of diverse backgrounds.