Auditory and visual reaction time in athletes, healthy controls, and patients of type 1 diabetes mellitus: A comparative study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Reaction time is one of the important methods used to study a person's central information processing speed and fast coordinated peripheral movement response. The purpose of this study was to compare the reaction time performances in controls, athletes, and patients of type 1 diabetes mellitus and to find out any gender differences. METHODOLOGY: 120 subjects aged 20-30 years were distributed into three groups. Group I - Healthy controls, Group II - Athletes, Group III - Patients of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Equal number of males and females were taken. The reaction time was recorded for auditory and visual stimuli in seconds, by reaction time device. RESULTS: Assessed by using unpaired 't' test. The athletes performed better than the controls and in the patients of Type 1 diabetes mellitus; there was a significant prolongation of the visual as well as auditory reaction times. However, gender differences were not observed. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the reaction time is a good indicator of performance in sports, which suggests that diabetics participating in quick action sports should be careful about the injuries that may occur as a result of increased reaction time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]