eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Nursing Research 2378-5586 2015-12-02 3 3 48 53 10.12691/ajnr-3-3-1 AJNR2015331 article Ozden DEDELI ozdendedeli@yahoo.co.uk 1 Sezgi CINAR PAKYUZ 1 Ummu KACER DABAN 2 Seda KIPCAK 2 Deniz SARI 2 Emel SENOL 2 Zeliha HEKIMSOY 2 Department of Internal Medicine, Celal Bayar University School of Health, Manisa, Turkey Department of Internal Medicine, Celal Bayar University, Hafsa Sultan Hospital, Manisa, Turkey Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and its effect on quality of life among patients with diabetes mellitus. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted a university hospital in Manisa, Turkey. Among the diabetic patients who reffered to two internal medicine policlinics, 138 patients were selected randomly. A questionnare has been designed including socio-demographic, medical history about diabetes mellitus (DM), Gastrointestinal Symptom Grading Scale (GSGS) and Gastrointestinal Quality of Life Index (GIQLI). Data were expressed as mean±standart deviation (SD). Comparisons between means were carried out using the Mann-Withney U, Kruskal-Wallis H, correlations. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean±SD age of the patients was 49.5±12.9 years (range 18-65 years). The proportion of men in the patients was slightly higher compared with that of women (53.6% vs 46.4%). Of the 138 diabetic patients interviewed, 85.2 percent of patients had type II diabetes. The most common GI symptoms were abdominal distension (71.6%), feeling of incomplete evacuation (70.3%), reflux (60.1%), and constipation (58.7%). GIQLI score was found to be 76.1±25.1 (range 30-127) in the patients with diabetes who participated in this study. There were statistically significant negative correlation between GIQLI score and frequency of GI symptoms (p<0.01). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that patients with diabetes mellitus hold commonly complaint of gastrointestinal symptoms, and gastrointestinal problems can impair well-being and quality of life in diabetes. http://pubs.sciepub.com/ajnr/3/3/1/ajnr-3-3-1.pdf Format Microsoft Word Template Style Insert Template