Diabetes Mellitus Symptoms Related to Physical Competence: Do They Predict Dynamic Balance?
Conditions: Diabetes Mellitus
Sponsor: Suleyman Demirel University

03.10.2025 
Diabetes Mellitus symptoms related to physical competence: Do they predict 
dynamic balance? 
Study Design and Sample Size 
 This cross-sectional study was conducted at … University, Faculty of Physiotherapy and 
Rehabilitation. We conducted a post hoc power analysis using the G-Power 3.1.9.2 program 
(Heinrich-Heine-Universitat, Dusseldorf, Germany). Fifty-eight participants were included in the 
study, and the effect size based on achieved was f2=0.32 [f2=R2/(1- R2)]. Assuming that the type I 
error (α) was 0.05, the program calculated that the power was 90%. 
Ethical Approval 
 The …. University Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee approved the 
study (Application Number: 60116787-020/71477; 19.10.2018). The registration number of this 
study on ClinicalTrial.gov is …. Each phase of the study conducted according to the prenciples of 
the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants were informed about the study before participation, 
and those who agreed to participate provided written informed consent. 
 
Participants 
The study population consisted of patients diagnosed with DM who applied to the … 
University, Department of Internal Medicine Endocrinology and Metabolism Polyclinic. 
Participants are eligible if they were between 25 and 75 years old and had a Mini Mental Test 
(MMT) score ≥ 24. The exclusion criteria included the presence of comorbid conditions that could 
affect balance, such as lower extremity injuries, musculoskeletal surgery, diabetic neuropathy, 
orthopedic, neurological and cardiovascular diseases, and hearing or vision problems. The 
evaluations were conducted on 58 of the 148 patients with DM  (Fig 1). 
Outcome Measures 

The patients who met the inclusion criteria were questioned about their sociodemographic 
and clinical characteristics (e.g. DM duration and medication use). The primary outcome of the 
study was dynamic balance. The independent variables included body composition, physical 
activity level, walking distance, fatigue-related perceived exertion level, and urinary incontinence. 
The Four-Step Square Test (FSST), Body Mass Index (BMI), International Physical Activity 
Questionnaire–Long Form (IPAQ-LF), 6-Minute Walking Test (6MWT), Modified Borg Scale 
(MBS), and International Urinary Incontinence Consultation Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-UI 
SF) were used. 
Statistical Analysis 
The SPSS 25.0 [IBM SPSS Statistics 25 Software (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.)] package 
program will be used to analyze all results. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test will be used to determine 
whether the data were normally distributed or not. Continuous data will be presented as 
mean±standard deviation, whereas categorical data will be presented as percentages. Multiple 
regression analysis will be used to evaluate the effects of dependent variables on dynamic balance. 
Statistical significance will be set at p≤0.05 for all analyses.