Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although gastrointestinal symptoms occur frequently, there is no validated measure of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with diabetes mellitus.
AIM: To develop the Diabetes Bowel Symptom Questionnaire.
METHODS: A questionnaire derived from previously validated symptom measures was compiled to assess all relevant gastrointestinal and diabetes items. Face and content validity were ascertained by expert review. One hundred and sixty-eight patients with diabetes mellitus completed the instrument, and reliability was evaluated by a test-re-test procedure 1 week later. Concurrent validity was evaluated by an independent physician interview (n = 33). Measures of glycaemic control (glycated haemoglobin and plasma glucose) were compared with self-reported glycaemic control on a five-point Likert scale in diabetic out-patients (n = 166).
RESULTS: The questionnaire had adequate face and content validity. There was good to excellent test-re-test reliability for the gastrointestinal and diabetes items (median kappa: 0.63 and 0.79, respectively); concurrent validity was good to excellent (median kappa: 0.47 and 0.65, respectively), except for the items assessing the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms. Both glycated haemoglobin (P < 0.0001) and plasma glucose (P = 0.005) correlated significantly with self-reported glycaemic control.
CONCLUSION: The Diabetes Bowel Symptom Questionnaire appears to be a useful measure of gastrointestinal symptoms and glycaemic control in diabetes mellitus, and should have applicability in epidemiological and clinical studies.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1179-1187 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics |
Volume | 17 |
Issue number | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 May 2003 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Adult
- Aged
- Diabetes Complications
- Female
- Gastrointestinal Diseases
- Humans
- Male
- Middle Aged
- Reproducibility of Results
- Sensitivity and Specificity
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Journal Article
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't