Stomach Pain Is Common After 15 Years of Diabetes Duration
Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are associated with impaired quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a recent study.
For their study, the researchers assessed 134 outpatients with type 2 diabetes. Mean patient age was 64.7 years, and mean body mass index was 24.7 kg/m2. Mean glycated hemoglobin was 7.1%, and mean diabetes duration was 13.7 years.
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The Izumo scale was used to assess quality of life related to GI symptoms, including heartburn, gastralgia, postprandial fullness, constipation, and diarrhea. Scores were obtained from 3 questions in each domain, and the sum of these scores was calculated. The researchers considered all patients with a score of 5 or higher to be symptomatic with impaired quality of life. Additionally, statistical analyses were performed using JMP Clinical version 5.0.
Results indicated that lower abdominal symptoms were more common than upper abdominal symptoms in this patient population, with diabetes duration and medication use being associated with the presence of GI symptoms.
Gastralgia and total GI symptoms both peaked at a diabetes duration of 15 to 19 years, while heartburn and postprandial fullness had increased with disease duration. Furthermore, constipation had typically peaked early in the course of diabetes, while diarrhea tended to peak later. GI symptoms tended to reflect the affected region of the GI tract, with constipation and diarrhea having similar frequencies.
“Our study highlights the importance of questioning patients about [quality of life] impairment due to abdominal symptoms, especially in the early and the late periods of diabetes,” the researchers concluded.
—Christina Vogt
Reference:
Fujishiro M, Kushiyama A, Yamazaki H, et al. Gastrointestinal symptom prevalence depends on disease duration and gastrointestinal region in type 2 diabetes mellitus. World J Gastroenterol. 2017;23(36):6694-6704. doi:10.3748/wjg.v23.i36.6694.