Table 1.
Characteristics of the participants and a comparison between participants with and without normal bowel function.
| Characteristics | All participants n = 197 |
Participants with normal bowel function n = 116 |
Participants with altered bowel function n = 81 |
Statistics p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 85.6 (SD 6.9) | 85.1 (SD 7.1) | 86.4 (SD 6.7) | 0.18 |
| Gender - female | 74.6 | 71.6 | 79.0 | 0.25 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) (n = 183) | 24.3 (SD 5.3) | 24.9 (SD 5.3) | 23.5 (SD 5.2) | 0.07 |
| Smoking: Current/Before/Never (n = 193) (%) | 7.8%/16.1%/76.2% | 10.4%/17.4%/72.2% | 3.8%/14.1%/82.1% | 0.07 |
| Use of alcohol more than once a month (n = 193) | 29 (15.0%) | 14 (12.3%) | 15 (19.0%) | 0.22 |
| Intake of liquids (glass/day) | 9.0 (1.0-17.0) | 9.0 (3.0-15.0) | 8.0 (1.0-17.0) | 0.01 |
| Dietary fibre (g/day) (n = 195) | 14.5 (3.7-41.0) | 14.7 (4.6-41.0) | 13.5 (3.7-30.3) | 0.15 |
| Katz: Activity of daily living1 | 1 (0-6) | 1 (0-6) | 1 (0-6) | 0.31 |
| Mobility: Bedridden/Walk indoors/Walk outdoors | 105(53.3%)/54(27.4%)/ 38(19.3%) |
61(52.6%)/28(24.1%) /27(23.3%) |
44(54.3%)/26(32.1%)/11(13.6%) | 0.36 |
| MNA2 - score (n = 141) | 20.0 (8.5-26.0) | 20.8 (8.5-26.0) | 18.0 (9.5-26.0) | 0.05 |
| Consistency of food (n = 196) Mashed food/Bread without crust/Ordinary food |
35(17.9%)/39(19.9%) /122(62.2%) |
15(12.9%)/20(17.2%) /81(69.8%) |
20(25.0%)/19(23.8%) /41(51.3%) |
0.007 |
| Number of diseases (n = 196) | 5.0 (1-15) | 5.0 (1-15) | 4.0 (0-11) | 0.36 |
| Heart diseases (n = 195) | 86 (44.1%) | 52 (45.2%) | 34 (42.5%) | 0.77 |
| Thrombo-embolic disease (n = 195) | 16 (8.2%) | 6 (5.2%) | 10 (12.5%) | 0.11 |
| Stroke (n = 195) | 75 (38.5%) | 44 (37.9%) | 31 (39.2%) | 0.88 |
| Depression/anxiety (n = 196) | 98 (50.0%) | 65 (56.0%) | 33 (41.3%) | 0.06 |
| Dementia (n = 196) | 104 (53.1%) | 58 (50.0%) | 46 (57.5%) | 0.31 |
| Diabetes (both I and II) (n = 196) | 22 (11.2%) | 13 (11.2%) | 9 (11.3%) | 1.00 |
| Parkinson's disease(n = 196) | 11 (5.6%) | 5 (4.3%) | 3 (7.5%) | 0.34 |
| Hypothyroidism (n = 195) | 8 (4.1%) | 5 (4.3%) | 3 (3.8%) | 0.84 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis (n = 196) | 8 (4.1%) | 2 (1.7%) | 6 (7.5%) | 0.04 |
| Cancer (n = 191) | 30 (15.7%) | 24 (21.4%) | 6 (7.6%) | 0.01 |
| Abdominal operation (n = 193) | 30 (15.5%) | 22 (19.6%) | 8 (9.9%) | 0.07 |
| Number of drugs | 6 (0-20) | 6 (0-20) | 5(0-17) | 0.10 |
| Antithrombotic agents (B01A) | 104 (52.8%) | 61 (52.6%) | 43 (53.1%) | 1.00 |
| Iron preparations (B03A) | 35 (17.8%) | 23 (19.8%) | 12 (14.8%) | 0.45 |
| Diuretics (C03) | 88 (44.7%) | 54 (46.6%) | 34 (42.0%) | 0.56 |
| Calcium channel blockers (C08) | 23 (11.7%) | 13 (11.2%) | 10 (12.3%) | 0.83 |
| Thyroid hormones (H03AA) | 16 (8.1%) | 10 (8.6%) | 6 (7.4%) | 0.80 |
| Antibiotics (J01) | 28 (14.2%) | 19 (16.4%) | 9 (11.1%) | 0.41 |
| NSAID (M01A) | 14 (7.1%) | 9 (7.8%) | 5 (6.2%) | 0.67 |
| Opioids (N02A) | 24 (12.2%) | 14 (12.1%) | 10 (12.3%) | 1.00 |
| Dopaminergic agents (N04B) | 9 (4.6%) | 2 (1.7%) | 7 (8.6%) | 0.02 |
| Benzodiazepin derivatives (N05BA) | 46 (21.8%) | 32 (27.6%) | 14 (13.6%) | 0.02 |
| Antidepressants (N06A) | 85 (43.1%) | 50 (43.1%) | 35 (43.2%) | 1.00 |
| Drug with anticholinergic effect | 15 (7.6%) | 8 (6.9%) | 7 (8.6%) | 0.79 |
| High dose of ≥1 laxatives | 71 (40.1%) | 41 (40.6%) | 30 (39.5%) | 1.00 |
1 Katz - Activity of daily living. (Index 0-6: 0 = Very dependent; 6 = Independent)
2 MNA = Mini nutritional assessment® (score 0-30: <17 malnourished, 17-23.5 at risk of malnutrition, 24-30 normal nutritional status)
n = number available for the analysis
The results are given as mean (SD), median (range) and number (%). There were no missing values for the use of drugs.