Department of Gastroenterology, Hospital of Braga, Braga, Portugal.
School of Medicine, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
United European Gastroenterol J. 2022 May;10(4):376-384. doi: 10.1002/ueg2.12221. Epub 2022 Mar 22.
Chronic constipation (CC) is a major public health condition and CC management remains challenging.
We aimed to evaluate the CC (and subtypes) prevalence in a Southern Europe Mediterranean country using Rome IV criteria, and to assess related factors, toilet and healthcare seeking behaviours.
Cross-sectional epidemiological survey, conducted in general community and representing the Portuguese population according to sex and age. The questionnaire covered bowel habits, factors potentially associated with CC (demographic, health/lifestyle, toilet behaviours) and data regarding healthcare seeking.
From the study data of 1950 individuals were analyzed. The answer rate was 68% and 1335 questionnaires were available for calculation. The CC prevalence was 17.8%, with respectively 9.3% of Functional Constipation (FC) and 8.5% of Irritable Bowel Syndrome - subtype constipation (IBS-C). The likelihood of constipation was significantly higher in younger (OR 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.007-1.031), solo (OR 2.48; 95% CI, 1.7-3.47) and low-income (OR 2.40; 95% CI, 1.77-3.47) individuals. Constipated individuals spent more time at defecation, longer than 5 min (p = 0.001), and had particular toilet behaviours (absence of a morning pattern [p = 0.008], the use of triggers [p = 0.001] and reading/technological material [p = 0.006]) to facilitate the evacuation. Only 39% of affected individuals sought medical advice, mainly IBS-C patients (p = 0.018).
Chronic constipation seems to impact 1 in each 5 Portuguese. Constipated patients are younger, solo, less active and with low income. They develop a clear toilet behaviour profile. FC and IBS-C patients assume particular behaviours.
慢性便秘（CC）是一种主要的公共卫生状况，CC 的管理仍然具有挑战性。
我们旨在使用罗马 IV 标准评估一个南欧地中海国家的 CC（和亚型）患病率，并评估相关因素、厕所和医疗保健寻求行为。
横断面流行病学调查，在普通社区进行，根据性别和年龄代表葡萄牙人口。问卷涵盖了排便习惯、与 CC 相关的潜在因素（人口统计学、健康/生活方式、厕所行为）以及医疗保健寻求的数据。
从研究的 1950 个人的数据中进行了分析。应答率为 68%，有 1335 份问卷可供计算。CC 的患病率为 17.8%，其中分别为 9.3%的功能性便秘（FC）和 8.5%的肠易激综合征-便秘型（IBS-C）。在较年轻（OR 1.01；95%置信区间[CI]，1.007-1.031）、单身（OR 2.48；95%CI，1.7-3.47）和低收入（OR 2.40；95%CI，1.77-3.47）的个体中，便秘的可能性显著更高。便秘患者排便时间更长，超过 5 分钟（p=0.001），并且有特定的厕所行为（缺乏早晨模式[p=0.008]、使用触发物[p=0.001]和阅读/技术材料[p=0.006]）以促进排便。只有 39%的受影响个体寻求医疗建议，主要是 IBS-C 患者（p=0.018）。
慢性便秘似乎影响了每 5 个葡萄牙人中的 1 个。便秘患者更年轻、单身、活动较少且收入较低。他们形成了明确的厕所行为特征。FC 和 IBS-C 患者表现出特定的行为。
