Functional Constipation and Constipation-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome in the General Population: Data from the GECCO Study

Background. The prevalence of constipation in the (German) population has been shown to be 14.9% in a telephone survey, but more detailed data are required to characterize the sociographics and clinical characteristics of persons with different types of functional constipation, either constipation-p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Gastroenterology research and practice 2016-01, Vol.2016 (2016), p.1-9
Main Authors: Köhler, Thorsten, Smid, Menno, Leinert, Johannes, Enck, Paul, Schwille-Kiuntke, Juliane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Constipation
Diagnosis
Evaluation
Forecasts and trends
Health aspects
Health status indicators
Irritable bowel syndrome
Medical statistics
Physiological aspects
Quality of life
Risk factors
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Summary:Background. The prevalence of constipation in the (German) population has been shown to be 14.9% in a telephone survey, but more detailed data are required to characterize the sociographics and clinical characteristics of persons with different types of functional constipation, either constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C) or functional constipation with or without meeting Rome criteria. Methods. Of 2239 constipated individuals identified during the telephone interview, 1037 (46.3%) were willing to provide a postal address for a questionnaire, of which 589 (56.8%) returned the questionnaire, inquiring about sociographic data, clinical symptoms, and health care behavior related to constipation, as well as health-related quality-of-life (SF12). Subgroups of functionally constipated individuals were compared. Results. More than 50% of the respondents reported a somatic comorbid condition and/or regular medication intake that may contribute to constipation. We split the remaining individuals (N=214) into three groups, matching Rome-criteria for IBS (IBS-C, n=64) and for functional constipation (FC-R, n=36) and FC not matching Rome criteria (n=114). Nearly all sociographic and clinical characteristics were equal among them, and all individuals with constipation had similar and lowered QOL on the SF-12 physical health domain, but in IBS-C the scores were also significantly lower in comparison to FC-R and FC, in both the physical health and the mental health domain. Conclusion. Only a fraction of individuals with chronic constipation match Rome criteria for IBS-C or FC, but subgroups do not differ with respect to most other measures except quality-of-life profiles.
ISSN:1687-6121
1687-630X
DOI:10.1155/2016/3186016