Talley, N.Young, L.Bytzer, P.Hammer, J.Leemon, M.Jones, M.Horowitz, M.2007-10-162007-10-162001American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2001; 96(1):71-760002-92701572-0241http://hdl.handle.net/2440/39103The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.comOBJECTIVES: Morbidity from GI symptoms in diabetes is considered to be high, but no studies have quantified the impact of GI symptoms in diabetes on health-related quality of life. We hypothesized that diabetics reporting increased GI symptoms would experience more impaired quality of life. METHODS: Subjects from the community with diabetes (n = 892) and outpatients with diabetes (n = 209) were recruited for this study. Subjects were divided into type 1 (diabetes diagnosed at age <30 yr and requiring insulin) and type 2. A validated questionnaire measuring GI symptoms and diabetes status and the Short Form-36 were completed. The results were compared with Australian normal data. GI symptom groups measured were frequent abdominal pain, bowel-related abdominal pain, reflux, dyspepsia, constipation, diarrhea, and fecal incontinence. RESULTS: There was a clinically significant decrease in quality-of-life scores in diabetics compared with population norms across all subscales. The impact on quality of life in diabetes was predominantly observed in type 2 diabetics. The quality-of-life scores in all subscales decreased markedly with increasing numbers of distinct GI symptom groups, and this was similar in community and outpatient diabetics. For all the Short Form-36 subscales, GI symptom groups were significantly (all p < 0.0001) associated with poorer quality of life in diabetes, independent of age, gender, smoking, alcohol use, and type of diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: GI symptoms impact negatively on health-related quality of life in diabetes mellitus.en© 2001 The American College of GastroenterologyHumansGastrointestinal DiseasesDiabetes Mellitus, Type 1Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2Chronic DiseaseHealth SurveysPrevalenceAnalysis of VarianceProbabilityRisk FactorsComorbidityAge DistributionSex DistributionQuality of LifeAdultAgedMiddle AgedFemaleMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesJournal article002007196510.1111/j.1572-0241.2001.03350.x2-s2.0-003513329648004Horowitz, M. [0000-0002-0942-0306]