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

• 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
• ISSN: 1687-6121; 1687-630X
• DOI: 10.1155/2016/3186016

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.