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Rates and Factors Associated With Laxative Prescription Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients in Primary Care

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common noncommunicable disease. Several gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, chronic constipation, and fecal incontinence are often observed in DM patients; among these, chronic constipation is the most commonly reported. Given the growing prevalence of diabetes-associated chronic constipation, the problem of laxative prescribed without diagnosis of constipation among type 2 diabetes patients has been found in the primary care unit. Therefore, it should attend to investigate the rate and factors associated with laxative prescription in type 2 diabetes. 
Objective: To evaluate the rate and factors associated with laxative prescription in type 2 diabetic patients at the primary care unit and general practitioner outpatient clinic at Songklanagarind Hospital. 
Results: Overall, 386 patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were enrolled (55.7% female; mean age, 63.3 years; median duration of type 2 diabetes, 7 years; median visit in 5 years of each patient, 44 visits). Prevalence of laxative prescriptions was 16.6%. Rate of laxative prescriptions was 1.7% within 5 years. Patients with no diagnosis constipation according to ICD-10 about 81.2%. The statistically significant factors associated with laxative prescriptions in diabetic patients were age, number of hospital visit in 5 years, duration of type 2 DM disease, height, diastolic blood pressure, hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum uric acid, and glomerular filtration rate. 
Conclusions: Most laxative prescribed diabetic patients were without written diagnosis of constipation. Factors associated with laxative prescriptions were age, number of hospital visit, duration of type 2 DM disease, height, diastolic blood pressure, hemoglobin, hematocrit, serum uric acid, and glomerular filtration rate. 
 