Gastrointestinal symptoms in middle-aged diabetic patients.

Occurrence of gastrointestinal symptoms was investigated in a questionnaire-based survey of 89 randomly selected patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, 481 patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, and 635 nondiabetic control subjects. The prevalences of upper gastrointestinal symptoms, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation were similar in diabetic patients and control subjects. Women with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus had a significantly higher and women with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus a significantly lower prevalence of gallstone disease than control women (29%, 5%, and 19%, respectively). We conclude that the occurrence and spectrum of gastrointestinal symptoms in middle-aged subjects with insulin- and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus do not differ from those of the general population.