Evaluation of gustatory sensitivity of individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and their relatives

Abstract

According to the literature reports of both the sensory loss of individuals with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and of the importance of family interrelationships in the management of this pathology, there is a demand to evaluate the sensory perception of relatives of individuals with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Consequently, the aim of this study was to evaluate sweet taste perception of diabetic individuals and their relatives. Methods: For this purpose, a sample of 150 volunteers was invited to participate, which was composed by individuals of both sexes, aged between 18 and 59 years, equally divided into three groups, constituted with 50 volunteers each: non-diabetic individuals, diabetic individuals and relatives. Furthermore, the glucose concentration of all participants was determined by capillary glycemia, and the diabetic participants were referred to a third-party laboratory to perform the glycated hemoglobin test using the immunoturbidimetric. Moreover, a questionnaire of personal and socio-demographic information was applied to diabetic participants and the sensory perception was evaluated through the test for sweet taste sensitivity. Results: The glycemic levels of the diabetic participants given by the Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) test revealed that the results had a mean of 7.92 + 1.89%, equivalent to 180.60 + 54.52 mg/dL. The threshold was 3.34 g/L for diabetic participants, 2.60 g/L for relatives, and 1.92 g/L for the control group. Conclusions: Therefore, the present study demonstrated that the threshold index for sweet taste perception is higher in individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and their relatives when compared to the control group.