Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are common in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), which involved in high cost of health care and low quality of life. The aim of this study to investigate the prevalence of GI symptoms in diabetic patients referred to the Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center (GLDRC), Guilan University of Medical Sciences (Rasht, Iran) using a validated questionnaire.

In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 255 diabetic patients and 255 non-diabetic subjects were recruited. Participants were randomly selected. The questionnaire recorded GI symptoms among the study population.

GI symptoms were reported in 91.4% of diabetic patients, and 42.1% of them were male. The common GI symptoms in diabetic patients were flatulence (33.0%), followed by retrosternal pain (14.9%), belching (13.7%), postprandial fullness (12.5%), and constipation (11.4%). Retrosternal pain, constipation, flatulence, loss of appetite, and abdominal distention were more prevalent in diabetic women than men.

DM is associated with high prevalence rate of upper and lower GI symptoms. This effect may be linked to gender and poor glycemic control in diabetic patients, but not to type and duration of diabetes.