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. 2023 Aug 22;23:1597. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16367-3

Table 1.

Characteristics of participants by constipation among men and women, weighted

Characteristic Males p value Females p value
No constipation Constipation No constipation Constipation
(n=5689) (n=311) (n=5086) (n=636)
Age (years), % (SE) 0.12 0.14
20-50 60.46 (1.27) 66.18 (3.47) 56.35 (1.22) 60.34 (2.28)
≥50 39.54 (1.27) 33.82 (3.47) 43.65 (1.22) 39.66 (2.28)
Race, % (SE) < 0.0001 0.03
Mexican American 8.62 (1.00) 16.90 (3.02) 6.67 (0.84) 7.52 (1.24)
Non-Hispanic Black 10.14 (0.88) 17.80 (2.95) 10.82 (1.05) 14.85 (2.39)
Non-Hispanic White 71.82 (1.76) 56.10 (4.72) 73.64 (1.82) 67.02 (3.61)
Other races 9.42 (0.87) 9.21 (2.84) 8.87 (0.82) 10.61 (2.00)
Marital status, % (SE) 0.06 0.43
Living alone 33.36 (1.13) 42.86 (4.74) 39.04 (1.38) 41.46 (2.76)
Married or living with partner 66.64 (1.13) 57.14 (4.74) 60.96 (1.38) 58.54 (2.76)
Educational levels, % (SE) < 0.0001 < 0.001
Below high school 5.32 (0.45) 10.22 (2.26) 4.09 (0.35) 7.07 (1.17)
High school 35.61 (1.34) 51.71 (5.28) 35.60 (1.13) 42.48 (2.67)
Above high school 59.07 (1.48) 38.07 (5.15) 60.31 (1.24) 50.45 (2.92)
Poverty-income ratio, % (SE) < 0.001 0.001
< 2 29.99 (1.15) 42.94 (3.99) 33.61 (1.26) 42.37 (2.60)
≥ 2 70.01 (1.15) 57.06 (3.99) 66.39 (1.26) 57.63 (2.60)
BMI (kg/m2), % (SE) 0.02 0.02
< 25 26.19 (1.17) 37.92 (5.15) 36.30 (1.09) 41.13 (2.67)
25-30 39.23 (0.94) 35.67 (3.83) 27.99 (1.20) 31.87 (2.44)
> 30 34.58 (1.19) 26.41 (3.15) 35.71 (1.12) 27.00 (2.30)
Vigorous physical activity, % (SE) 0.05 0.29
No 64.77 (0.93) 73.53 (3.84) 80.25 (0.85) 82.91 (2.32)
Yes 35.23 (0.93) 26.47 (3.84) 19.75 (0.85) 17.09 (2.32)
Smoking status, % (SE) 0.61 0.21
Former 28.14 (1.05) 24.03 (4.08) 21.12 (0.94) 18.69 (1.90)
Never 46.85 (1.21) 48.71 (4.51) 58.47 (1.12) 62.86 (2.42)
Now 25.00 (0.88) 27.26 (4.28) 20.41 (0.93) 18.46 (1.95)
Drinking status, % (SE) 0.01 0.01
No 13.63 (0.82) 21.81 (3.31) 30.73 (1.37) 38.23 (2.82)
Yes 86.37 (0.82) 78.19 (3.31) 69.27 (1.37) 61.77 (2.82)
Diabetes, % (SE) 0.12 0.94
No 89.85 (0.43) 92.62 (1.48) 90.46 (0.57) 90.36 (1.17)
Yes 10.15 (0.43) 7.38 (1.48) 9.54 (0.57) 9.64 (1.17)
Hypertension, % (SE) 0.43 0.38
No 48.57 (1.20) 51.47 (3.56) 55.37 (1.01) 57.76 (2.63)
Yes 51.43 (1.20) 48.53 (3.56) 44.63 (1.01) 42.24 (2.63)
Depression, % (SE) < 0.001 0.01
No 95.25 (0.46) 83.85 (5.05) 91.87 (0.60) 87.37 (1.55)
Yes 4.75 (0.46) 16.15 (5.05) 8.13 (0.60) 12.63 (1.55)
Dietary measures, mean (SE)
Energy (kcal/day) 2516.61 (21.45) 2313.84 (70.51) 0.01 1772.35 (11.84) 1724.37 (28.64) 0.12
Fiber (gm/day) 18.23 (0.27) 15.32 (0.75) < 0.001 15.05 (0.19) 13.46 (0.41) < 0.001
Fat (gm/day) 95.24 (1.11) 83.87 (3.02) 0.001 67.51 (0.66) 63.84 (1.41) 0.02
Fluid (gm/day) 3297.27 (37.22) 2803.36 (103.25) < 0.0001 2686.75 (22.29) 2408.44 (64.46) < 0.0001
HEI 2015 scores 51.50 (0.35) 48.59 (0.99) 0.01 54.66 (0.35) 52.22 (0.82) 0.001
Dietary carotenoids intake (mcg/day), mean (SE)
ɑ-Carotene 403.30 (17.47) 308.17 (46.55) 0.05 427.75 (17.59) 321.99 (33.27) 0.002
β-Carotene 2078.85 (66.34) 1615.60 (191.21) 0.02 2294.29 (69.93) 1751.85 (155.71) < 0.001
β-Cryptoxanthin 104.68 (4.25) 80.09 (9.84) 0.02 93.72 (4.20) 74.44 (4.76) < 0.001
Lycopene (Diet) 6709.98 (196.94) 4473.85 (466.80) < 0.001 4910.82 (177.90) 4528.77 (293.77) 0.28
Lutein with zeaxanthin (Diet) 1431.17 (53.55) 1252.91 (204.11) 0.39 1573.87 (50.04) 1245.21 (97.07) 0.002
Total lycopene (Diet and Supplement) 6798.84 (203.78) 4515.88 (470.57) < 0.001 4956.40 (178.36) 4553.95 (293.14) 0.25
Total lutein with zeaxanthin (Diet and Supplement) 1496.46 (50.49) 1280.90 (204.72) 0.30 1686.20 (49.59) 1325.74 (98.66) 0.001

SE standard errors, BMI body mass index, HEI healthy eating index