A cross-sectional study of stool form (using Bristol stool chart) in an urban South Indian population.

BACKGROUND

There is paucity of data on Bristol stool form (BSF) in healthy South Indian residents.

AIM

To determine the BSF types and associated factors in an urban bowel health noncomplainant population.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study, performed using a self-administered questionnaire among adult Chennai residents, compared BSF types by gender for various factors (age, occupation, bowel frequency, and defecation-related abdominal pain). BSF types 1/2 and 6/7 were grouped as hard and loose stools, respectively. The statistical tests used were proportion test, , and Kruskal-Wallis tests ( < 0.05 deemed significant).

RESULTS

The study cohort of 1402 subjects included 748 (53.3%) men and a third each of professionals, semiprofessionals, and "non-office goers" (homemakers, retirees, students, and unemployed). A total of 97% had daily bowel movement, and 8.5% reported defecation associated abdominal pain. The BSF types in decreasing prevalence were: Type 3 (35.6%), Type 4 (32.5%), Types 1 or 2 (20.5%), Type 5 (6.9%), and Types 6 or 7 (4.5%). On gender comparison, significantly more men passed hard ( = 0.03) or loose stools ( = 0.001), while more women passed Type 3 ( = 0.0002). Loose stools in men were associated with abdominal pain ( = 0.0035). Women passing hard or loose stool types were slightly older (median age in 30s vs. 20s in Types 3-5) and had reduced stool frequency ( = 0.026: hard; = 0.006: loose).

CONCLUSIONS

This South Indian noncomplainant cohort's most common stool types were BSF Types 3 and 4, with few gender variations in extreme stool types.