Gastrointestinal symptoms in diabetics in a tertiary health centre

Background: Gastrointestinal symptoms (GI) reported in diabetics vary considerably, ranging from 19-76%. Factors associated with GI symptoms in diabetics include glycaemic control, diabetes duration, diabetic complications and treatment received.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if GI symptoms are more frequent in diabetics and to assess factors responsible.Methods: The study was done in the Diabetes Clinic of the University of Benin teaching hospital, from March to September 2012. A standardized questionnaire was used to elicit presence of ten listed GI symptoms of sufficient severity to interfere with patients’ daily routine within the preceeding 3 months. The cases were 110 consecutively recruited diabetic patients while 110 age and sex matched non diabetics were controls.Results: A total of 110 cases and 110 controls were studied. The mean ages were 59.0±12.0 years and 55.3±15.8 years for the cases and controls respectively. Ten GI symptoms were studied, 6 symptoms were more common in the cases while heartburn was more common in controls. One GI symptom was reported in 25 % of cases compared with 17 % of the controls. Eight percent of the diabetics reported multiple GI symptoms compared with 1.8% of the controls (p=0.003). Type of diabetic treatment (0.020) and diabetic complications (0.030) were associated with multiple GI symptoms