Department of Gastroenterology, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Dis Colon Rectum. 2013 Sep;56(9):1080-6. doi: 10.1097/DCR.0b013e31829203a9.
Fecal incontinence is a common problem that has been associated with anatomic, physiological, and medical conditions. There are very few data on the factors associated with fecal incontinence in elderly women.
We aimed to determine the factors associated with fecal incontinence via a population-based survey in a large cohort of elderly Australian women.
Data from a large longitudinal population-based study of elderly Australian women aged 82 to 87 years were analyzed.
Participants were 5560 women (aged 82-87 years) who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health; 4815 women responded to questions relating to fecal incontinence.
Fecal incontinence was defined as leakage of liquid and/or solid stool at least once per month over the past 12 months. Self-reported medical conditions and lifestyle factors as well as demographic factors were recorded.
The prevalence of fecal incontinence was 10.4% (95% CI, 9.6-11.3) (n = 510). The prevalence was significantly higher among institutional- versus community-dwelling women (14.1% vs 9.7%; p = 0.0002). Univariately, lifestyle factors including fruit intake and fluid intake, along with a range of comorbidities, were associated. However, independent factors for fecal incontinence among community-dwelling women included diabetes mellitus (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.14-2.01; p = 0.004), depression (OR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.30-2.62; p = 0.001), urinary incontinence (OR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.83-2.86; p < 0.0001), and osteoarthritis (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.57-0.94; p = 0.013). Among institutional-dwelling women, however, we found urinary incontinence (OR, 4.43; 95% CI, 2.83-6.93; p < 0.0001) and poorer general health (OR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.97-0.99; p = 0.003) to be independently associated.
This is a cross-sectional study, which prevents making conclusions about the cause and effect of observed correlations.
The independent factors associated with fecal incontinence in this population do not appear readily modifiable, and many previously identified risk factors may not be important in the elderly women with fecal incontinence.
粪便失禁是一种常见问题，与解剖学、生理学和医学状况有关。关于老年人粪便失禁的相关因素的数据非常少。
我们旨在通过对大量 82 至 87 岁的澳大利亚老年女性进行基于人群的调查，确定与粪便失禁相关的因素。
对澳大利亚老年女性的一项大型纵向基于人群的研究的数据进行了分析。
共有 5560 名女性（82-87 岁）参加了澳大利亚女性健康纵向研究；其中 4815 名女性回答了与粪便失禁相关的问题。
粪便失禁定义为过去 12 个月中每月至少有一次液体和/或固体粪便泄漏。记录了自我报告的医疗状况和生活方式因素以及人口统计学因素。
粪便失禁的患病率为 10.4%（95%CI，9.6-11.3）（n=510）。与居住在社区的女性相比，居住在机构中的女性患病率明显更高（14.1%对 9.7%；p=0.0002）。单变量分析显示，包括水果摄入和液体摄入在内的生活方式因素以及一系列合并症与粪便失禁相关。然而，居住在社区的女性中，粪便失禁的独立因素包括糖尿病（OR，1.51；95%CI，1.14-2.01；p=0.004）、抑郁（OR，1.84；95%CI，1.30-2.62；p=0.001）、尿失禁（OR，2.29；95%CI，1.83-2.86；p<0.0001）和骨关节炎（OR，0.73；95%CI，0.57-0.94；p=0.013）。然而，在居住在机构中的女性中，我们发现尿失禁（OR，4.43；95%CI，2.83-6.93；p<0.0001）和较差的一般健康状况（OR，0.98；95%CI，0.97-0.99；p=0.003）与粪便失禁独立相关。
这是一项横断面研究，这使得无法对观察到的相关性的因果关系得出结论。
在该人群中，与粪便失禁相关的独立因素似乎不易改变，并且许多先前确定的危险因素在患有粪便失禁的老年女性中可能并不重要。
