Endocrine Abstracts

Backgroud and Aim: Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are reportedly common in diabetes mellitus (DM) with a conflicting data on its prevalence in this specific population. The aim of our study is to determine the prevalence of GI symptoms and its associated factors.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 60 patients with DM. Anthropometric parameters, glycemic control, duration of diabetes and diabetic treatment were collected. Lower and upper GI symptoms were recognized using a questionnaire containing 10 questions about the frequency of GI symptoms that had been troublesome in the preceding 3 months. The frequency of each symptom was rated on a 4-point Likert scale and coded as not at all, rarely, sometimes or often. For the purposes of this analysis, a positive answer was recorded when the troublesome symptom was reported to occur sometimes and often.

Results: Mean age was 48,1±15,46 years with female predominance (68.4%). More than two thirds (77.1%) of patients had type2DM treated by insulin in 79.4% of cases and 41.3% had hypertension treated with Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors, Calcium channel blockers, Betablocker and Thiazide diuretics in 83.3%,35.1%,29.4.% and 23.5% of cases respectively. In the whole population study, lower GI symptoms were noted in 54.2% of patients including abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, and flatulence, reported in 35.4%,0%,47.9%,47.9% of cases, respectively. Upper GI symptoms were noted in 33.3% of patients including vomiting, heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux symptoms, reported in 14.6%, 22.9% and 31.3% of cases respectively. Upper GI symptoms were significantly associated with type2 diabetes (29.7% vs 2.7%; P=0.02). Diabetes duration and treatment, glycemic control and hypertension treatment were not significantly associated with upper GI symptoms. Lower GI symptoms were significantly associated with type2 DM(51.4% vs 8.1%; P=0.04) and treatment with Calcium channel blockers (35.5% vs 0 %; P=0.04). Glycemic control and diabetes treatment and duration were not significantly associated with lower GI symptoms.

Conclusion: Type2 DM was associated with higher prevalence of upper and lower GI symptoms. No significant association was established with diabetes control, duration and treatment. However, our study highlights the effect of calcium channel blockers on GI symptoms, supported by other studies[1].

References: 1. Maleki D, Locke GR, Camilleri M, Zinsmeister AR, Yawn BP, Leibson C, et al. Gastrointestinal tract symptoms among persons with diabetes mellitus in the community. Arch. Intern. Med. 2000;160:2808–16.