A questionnaire-based assessment of gastrointestinal symptoms in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

Background: Children commonly report gastrointestinal symptoms. Limited evidence suggests that children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) report more gastrointestinal symptoms than healthy children without diabetes. The aim of this study was to ascertain the pattern and severity gastrointestinal symptoms reported by children with diabetes and healthy children without diabetes.

Methods: After recruitment, children (less than 16 years of age) with type 1 diabetes and healthy control children reported their recent gastrointestinal symptoms using a short questionnaire. A five-point Likert scale was utilised to grade the severity of each symptom and an overall symptom score for each child was derived.

Results: One hundred and fifty cases (88% of eligible population) and 94 controls completed the questionnaire. Both groups had similarly high rates of any gastrointestinal symptom [80% of controls . 85% cases, OR 1.5 (95% CI: 0.7-3.1)]. Children with diabetes had higher mean scores for abdominal pain (1.3 . 1.0, P=0.02) and reflux (0.4 . 0.20, P=0.02). Cases also had a higher overall mean score than controls (4.9 . 3.4, P=0.02).

Conclusions: Overall, gastrointestinal symptoms were reported at the same frequency by both groups of children. However, the children with diabetes had more severe symptoms, especially those of reflux and abdominal pain. The reasons for these differences remain to be elucidated.