Department of Medicine, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat 123, Oman.
Internal Medicine Residency Training Program, Oman Medical Specialty Board, Muscat 130, Oman.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2024 Sep 29;60(10):1599. doi: 10.3390/medicina60101599.
Constipation affects health-related quality of life and increases hospital visits. We conducted this prospective cohort study to assess laxative use, health outcomes of constipation in medically hospitalized patients, and related health outcomes. A prospective single-center study included all adult patients admitted under the General Internal Medicine Unit from 1 February 2022, to 31 August 2022. Constipation was defined using the Constipation Assessment Scale (CAS). Patients were assessed for 28 days during their hospital stay and up to 90 days post-discharge. Among the included patients, 62.45% experienced constipation, which was associated with poor health outcomes including delirium ( = 0.048), intensive care admission ( < 0.01), cardiopulmonary arrest ( < 0.01), inpatient mortality ( < 0.01), longer hospital stay ( < 0.01), 90-day mortality ( < 0.01), and 90-day hospital readmission ( < 0.01). Laxative treatment was administered to only 33.93% of patients with constipation and was more commonly used among older patients ( < 0.01), those with high CAS scores ( < 0.01), longer hospital stays ( < 0.01), and critically ill patients (intensive care admission) ( = 0.01), as well as those who had cardiopulmonary arrest ( < 0.01) and high inpatient mortality ( < 0.01). This study identified several associations between constipation and poor health outcomes and highlighted the underutilization of laxatives in treating constipation. It is vital to interpret our results with caution. Therefore, we believe that a randomized controlled trial will help enhance our understanding of the interaction between constipation, laxative use, and poor health outcomes.
便秘影响健康相关生活质量并增加住院次数。我们进行了这项前瞻性队列研究，以评估住院患者中便秘的泻药使用情况、健康结果以及相关健康结果。
一项前瞻性单中心研究纳入了 2022 年 2 月 1 日至 2022 年 8 月 31 日期间入住普通内科病房的所有成年患者。使用便秘评估量表（Constipation Assessment Scale，CAS）定义便秘。患者在住院期间接受了 28 天的评估，并在出院后 90 天内进行评估。
在纳入的患者中，62.45%经历了便秘，这与较差的健康结果相关，包括谵妄（=0.048）、入住重症监护病房（<0.01）、心肺骤停（<0.01）、住院期间死亡率（<0.01）、住院时间延长（<0.01）、90 天死亡率（<0.01）和 90 天再次住院（<0.01）。仅 33.93%的便秘患者接受了泻药治疗，而且在年龄较大的患者（<0.01）、CAS 评分较高的患者（<0.01）、住院时间较长的患者（<0.01）、重症患者（入住重症监护病房）（=0.01）以及发生心肺骤停的患者（<0.01）和住院期间死亡率较高的患者（<0.01）中更为常见。
本研究确定了便秘与不良健康结果之间的一些关联，并强调了治疗便秘时泻药的使用不足。谨慎解释我们的结果至关重要。因此，我们认为随机对照试验将有助于我们更好地理解便秘、泻药使用和不良健康结果之间的相互作用。
