Prevalence of Somatosensory Disorders in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes in Lahore: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: Sensory system is important to perceive different sensation in the whole body and sensory system may be
impacted by the high blood glucose level at chronic stage of diabetes mellitus.
Objective: The objective of this study is to find out the Prevalence of somatosensory disorders in individuals with type 2
diabetes in Lahore.
Methods: A cross sectional study conducted of 191 patients at Diabetic Center of Jinnah Hospital Lahore. Both male &
female, being aged 41-65 years, duration of diabetes less than 5, 10 & 15 years and 8 hours of physical activity were included
visually & mentally impaired, with locomotive challenges, post-stroke, with known trauma, and pregnant women were
excluded. The Revised Nottingham Sensory Assessment (RNSA) was used for data collection and data analyzed using the
SPSS version 21.0 software.
Results: The Revised Nottingham Sensory Assessment somatosensory questionnaire showed that there are 8.3% worse
cases, 32.3% moderate cases, 46.9% mild cases, 12.0% normal cases of tactile sensation. 3.6% worse cases, 13.0% severe cases,
20.8% moderate cases, 28.1 % mild cases, 33.9% normal cases of proprioception, 8.3% severe cases, 46.4% moderate cases,
30.2% mild cases, 14.6% normal cases of stereognosis.
Conclusion: More females complained of symptoms such as numbness, tingling & parasthesia. This study concluded that
the prevalence of somatosensory disorders was prevalent in females as compare to males. The variable such age, gender,
working hours, duration of diabetes; side of body affected had a significant effect on their symptoms of severity and
functional status.