How do older persons define constipation : Implications for therapeutic management

This study examined the relation between bowel-related symptoms and self-report of constipation in 10,875 subjects aged 60 years and over, who participated in the 1989 National Health Interview Survey. Subjects reporting constipation "always" or "mostly" over the past 12 months (...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM 1997, Vol.12 (1), p.63-66
Main Authors: HARARI, D, GURWITZ, J. H, AVORN, J, BOHN, R, MINAKER, K. L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Biological and medical sciences
Brief Reports
Confidence Intervals
Constipation - diagnosis
Constipation - epidemiology
Constipation - physiopathology
Constipation - therapy
Defecation
Female
Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Other diseases. Semiology
Risk Factors
Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus
United States - epidemiology
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study examined the relation between bowel-related symptoms and self-report of constipation in 10,875 subjects aged 60 years and over, who participated in the 1989 National Health Interview Survey. Subjects reporting constipation "always" or "mostly" over the past 12 months (n = 594) were compared with those who reported never having the symptom (n = 4,192). Straining (adjusted odds ratio 66.7; 95% confidence interval 31.5, 142.4) and hard bowel movements (25.6; 16.7, 38.7) were most strongly associated with self-report of constipation. These findings suggest that treatment for constipation in the older population should be directed as much or more at facilitating comfortable rectal evacuation, as increasing bowel movement frequency.
ISSN:0884-8734
1525-1497
DOI:10.1046/j.1525-1497.1997.12110.x