Prevalence Of Gastrointestinal Complaints Research Articles

Prevalence of gastrointestinal complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common diabetes in the world and constitutes a high percentage of diabetes cases. This study aims to determine the overall prevalence of gastrointestinal complaints in Iranian patients with type 2 diabetes. The articles were extracted based on entry and exit criteria by searching the Cochrane (Embase), ScienceDirect databases. Scopus PubMed; And Web of Science (WoS), based on PRISMA 2009. To evaluate the studies, a 22-item STROBE checklist was selected and related items were used. The probability of publication bias in reporting the results was examined by the Egger test (P = 0.891). The prevalence rate of gastrointestinal complaints in patients with type 2 diabetes in Iran in 10 studies was 52.3% (95% CI: 33.4-70.7%). The results of metargression showed a significant difference between the sample size and the prevalence of gastrointestinal complaints in patients with type 2 diabetes (P < 0.05). and the prevalence of gastrointestinal complaints in patients with type 2 diabetes. The results of this study report that, the prevalence of gastrointestinal complications in type 2 diabetes patients was high. As a result, appropriate measures should be taken to improve the condition of diabetic patients through appropriate policy-making and providing feedback to hospitals and patients.

Diagnostic Endoscopy in Children of Two Months to 15 Years of Age

Problem statement: Considering high prevalence of gastrointestinal complaints in children and the important role of endoscopy in the diagnosis of such complaints, this study was designed to characterize the clinical, endoscopic and pathologic features of Iranian children undergoing upper Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. Approach: This prospective study was performed in an office-based setting in a private medical centre in Kerman, Iran, between December 2004 to January 2008. Three hundred forty pediatric patients who underwent upper endoscopy for dyspeptic symptoms or other reasons were enrolled into this study and data were gathered concerning age, sex, reason of endoscopy, endoscopy report and pathologic report. Upper GI endoscopy was performed using Pentax video endoscope. Results: The most prevalent reason of performing endoscopy (43.1%) was abdominal pain. More than half of the cases with abdominal pain (54%) were in the age range of 5-10 year old of whom 80% had an abnormal pathologic finding such as esophgitis and active chronic gastritis associated with helicobacter pylori. The most common endoscopic finding (31.2%) and pathologic finding (40.3%) was esophagitis. More than half of the children with esophagitis (56.6%) had some degrees of hiatal hernia. In 35.5% of children with nodular gastritis, simultaneous esophagitis was observed. The rate of normal endoscopies and pathologies were respectively 10.8 and 19.4%. Conclusion: Considering low rate of normal endoscopic and pathologic reports in the studied subjects and also the variety of gastrointestinal complaints in them, it seems that proper selection of patients for undergoing upper GI endoscopy can have a significant directive role in the diagnosis of pediatric problems.

Prevalence of gastrointestinal complaints in runners competing in a long-distance run: An internet-based observational study in 1281 subjects

Objective. To assess the prevalence, risk factors and timing of gastrointestinal (GI) complaints in a large group of runners competing in a long-distance run. GI symptoms indicating GI ischaemia were of specific interest. Material and methods. A questionnaire was sent by e-mail to 2076 athletes who had competed in a recreational run and 1281 (62% response rate) were returned. Reported GI complaints were related to variables such as age, gender, distance, fluid and food ingestion and running experience. For statistical analyses, χ2 tests and logistic regression analyses were used. Results. The run was completed by 98% of the runners. Three athletes dropped out because of GI complaints, 45% had at least one GI complaint during running, while 11% of the runners suffered from serious GI complaints during the run, the last mentioned being significantly related to runners who were not familiar with fluid ingestion, those of younger age, female gender and those who did not complete the run. Of the runners, 2.7% had complaints during the first 24 h after the run. This was significantly related to female gender and GI complaints during the run. Conclusions. The prevalence of GI complaints during and after running was low compared with that reported in other studies, which is partly due to the definition of “symptomatic” used in our study. The risk factors associated with becoming symptomatic were identical to those in other studies. The relationship between complaints during the run and the type of complaints afterwards suggests a role of GI ischaemia in the pathophysiology of running-induced GI symptoms.

Review: Does HIV Infection Alter the Incidence or Pathology of Helicobacter pylori Infection?

Gastrointestinal (GI) discomfort is a common complaint among patients infected with HIV. GI symptoms can be caused by a myriad of factors including but not limited to coinfections, antiretroviral therapy, medications for opportunistic infections, and nutritional status. Some researchers have hypothesized that Helicobacter pylori infection may be more common among HIV-infected patients as a result of immune suppression. An increased incidence of H. pylori infection would contribute to the prevalence of GI complaints in this population. Several epidemiologic studies have examined the relationship between H. pylori infection and HIV. While studies have generally reported conflicting results that may be related to the use of varied study designs, some identifiable patterns can be discerned. It does appear that the incidence of H. pylori infection is lower among patients with AIDS compared to matched HIV-infected and -uninfected controls. This review discusses the various epidemiologic trials that have been conducted in this area and describes the potential physiologic mechanisms to explain these findings. The clinical applicability of these studies as well as limitations are also discussed. A greater number of well-designed and controlled trials are needed before any definitive conclusions regarding these diseases can be made, until such time clinicians should be aware of the potential issues regarding H. pylori screening and management in the context of HIV. Research in this area might also provide information relating to HIV-associated GI changes and the role of these changes in HIV pathogenesis.

Alendronate Use Among 812 Women: Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Complaints, Noncompliance with Patient Instructions, and Discontinuation

The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which women who receive alendronate therapy for osteoporosis comply with instructions regarding its use, find alendronate tolerable, and continue with the treatment. Through telephone interview surveys and retrospective database analysis, the authors surveyed 812 women with a mean (SO) age of 68.7 (11.7) years, who filled at least one prescription for 10 mg alendronate between October 1, 1995, and October 31, 1996. All the patients are members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Northern California. Based on interviews conducted a mean (SO) 8.0 (3.1) months after alendronate therapy was begun, 91.8% of the women recalled receiving verbal or printed instructions, but only 60% reported that they received all required instructions. During the course of therapy, 55.8% did not comply with one or more instructions for taking the drug. Specifically, 13.5% failed to comply with at least one of the recommended safety rules, and 51.7% disregarded rules relating to proximate ingestion of food, liquids (other than water), or medications. New upper-gastrointestinal symptoms ascribed to use of alendronate were reported by 32.7% of all users. The proportion of women discontinuing was 28.6% as based on self-report and was 34.9% as based on review of prescription refills. The most common reason for discontinuation was gastrointestinal problems, reported by 51.9% of women who stopped taking the drug. Almost one in three women receiving alendronate as therapy for osteoporosis has alendronate-related gastrointestinal complaints, which often cause them to discontinue treatment. Patients who fail to comply with instructions for taking alendronate may incur side effects from the drug or may fail to achieve full therapeutic effect from its use.