Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Its Effect on Quality of Life among Patients with Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and its effect on quality of life among patients with diabetes mellitus. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted a university hospital in Manisa, Turkey. Among the diabetic patients who reffered to two internal medicine policlinics, 138 patients were selected randomly. A questionnare has been designed including socio-demographic, medical history about diabetes mellitus (DM), Gastrointestinal Symptom Grading Scale (GSGS) and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI). Data were expressed as mean±standart deviation (SD). Comparisons between means were carried out using the Mann-Withney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, correlations. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean±SD age of the patients was 49.5±12.9 years (range 18-65 years). The proportion of men in the patients was slightly higher compared with that of women (53.6% vs 46.4%). Of the 138 diabetic patients interviewed, 85.2 percent of patients had type II diabetes. The most common GI symptoms were abdominal distension (71.6%), feeling of incomplete evacuation (70.3%), reflux (60.1%), and constipation (58.7%). GIQLI score was found to be 76.1±25.1 (range 30-127) in the patients with diabetes who participated in this study. There were statistically significant negative correlation between GIQLI score and frequency of GI symptoms (p<0.01). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that patients with diabetes mellitus hold commonly complaint of gastrointestinal symptoms, and gastrointestinal problems can impair well-being and quality of life in diabetes.