Table 1.
Baseline age-adjusted characteristics of participants by frequency of bowel movement or laxative use in the Nurses’ Health Study (1982) and in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (2000)
| Frequency of bowel movement
|
Frequency of laxative use
|
|||||||
| More than once per day (n=9091) | Daily (n=55532) | Every other day (n=15957) | Every 3 days or less (n=7593) | Never (n=63705) | Less than monthly (n=15148) | Monthly (n=3970) | Weekly-daily (n=5350) | |
| The Nurses’ Health Study | ||||||||
| Age, years* | 49.7(7.1) | 49.2(7.2) | 47.6(7.1) | 47.7(7.1) | 48.5(7.2) | 49.6(7.2) | 49.4(7.1) | 50.6(7.0) |
| Body mass index, kg/m2a | 26.4(6.0) | 24.6(4.5) | 24.2(4.1) | 24.1(4.0) | 24.7(4.7) | 24.9(4.5) | 24.6(4.4) | 24.3(4.3) |
| Activity, MET-h/weekb | 13.8(22.4) | 14.4(21.0) | 13.6(19.5) | 12.5(19.0) | 14.1(21.0) | 13.7(20.2) | 14.2(18.7) | 14.4(20.7) |
| Regular aspirin use (2 or more tablets/wk), % | 41 | 37 | 40 | 44 | 35 | 45 | 52 | 52 |
| Past smoking, % | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 | 29 | 29 |
| Current smoking, % | 28 | 29 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 27 |
| Multivitamin usec, % | 45 | 41 | 40 | 37 | 39 | 45 | 48 | 52 |
| Total energy intake, kcal/d | 1656(523) | 1571(495) | 1528(493) | 1508(498) | 1572(500) | 1551(497) | 1553(491) | 1549(513) |
| Alcohol, g/day | 6.9(12.3) | 6.6(10.7) | 5.5(9.1) | 5.4(9.2) | 6.5(10.7) | 6.0(9.9) | 6.3(9.8) | 6.2(10.2) |
| Total calcium intaked, μg/d | 741(329) | 743(316) | 717(298) | 697(309) | 733(313) | 731(312) | 730(317) | 744(331) |
| Total folate intaked, μg/d | 375(281) | 369(272) | 357(265) | 340(252) | 359(263) | 374(281) | 381(279) | 404(312) |
| Total vitamin Dd, IU/d | 343(296) | 333(285) | 318(273) | 303(255) | 322(276) | 338(283) | 342(285) | 368(340) |
| Total fiberd, g/d | 16.2(5.0) | 16.5(4.9) | 16.5(4.8) | 16.1(4.8) | 16.3(4.8) | 16.6(4.9) | 16.8(4.9) | 17.0(5.2) |
| Red meat, servings/wk | 2.7(2.0) | 2.6(2.0) | 2.5(2.0) | 2.6(2.1) | 2.6(2.0) | 2.6(2.0) | 2.5(1.9) | 2.5(2.0) |
| Processed meat, servings/wk | 1.2(2.0) | 1.2(1.8) | 1.1(1.7) | 1.1(1.7) | 1.2(1.8) | 1.2(1.7) | 1.1(1.7) | 1.1(1.9) |
| Bowel movement frequency every 3 days or less, % | NA | 5 | 13 | 28 | 24 | |||
| Laxative use weekly to daily, % | 4 | 4 | 9 | 17 | NA | |||
| Frequency of bowel movement
|
Frequency of laxative use
|
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| More than once per day (n=6286) | Daily (n=15698) | Every Other day (n=1398) | Every 3days or less (n=340) | Never (n=19735) | Less than monthly (n=1670) | Monthly (n=380) | Weekly-Daily (n=1937) | |
| The Health Professionals Follow-up Study | ||||||||
| Age, years* | 64.1(8.1) | 65.2(8.6) | 67.2(9.6) | 70.0(10.0) | 64.4(8.3) | 69.2(9.1) | 70.7(9.6) | 67.9(9.3) |
| Body mass index, kg/m2a | 26.5(3.8) | 26.2(3.6) | 25.9(3.7) | 25.6(3.6) | 26.3(3.6) | 26.6(4.1) | 26.5(4.2) | 26.2(3.7) |
| Activity, MET-h/weekb | 35.4(41.2) | 32.9(39.7) | 28.1(44.2) | 19.2(29.0) | 33.9(40.7) | 28.7(42.6) | 28.4(40.0) | 30.2(35.3) |
| Regular aspirin use (2 or more tablets/wk), % | 50 | 50 | 52 | 53 | 49 | 57 | 58 | 58 |
| Past smoking, % | 43 | 44 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 45 | 50 | 47 |
| Current smoking, % | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Multivitamin usec, % | 70 | 67 | 64 | 56 | 66 | 71 | 78 | 78 |
| Total energy intake, kcal/d | 2072(638) | 1980(615) | 1925(606) | 1880(614) | 1995(619) | 2043(658) | 2012(643) | 2019(628) |
| Alcohol, g/day | 10.8(14.3) | 11.0(13.9) | 9.0(12.3) | 8.9(13.6) | 11.0(14.0) | 10.1(13.4) | 8.6(11.8) | 10.3(13.8) |
| Total calcium intaked, μg/d | 1066(515) | 998(469) | 966(430) | 939(480) | 1006(475) | 1040(502) | 1032(504) | 1069(515) |
| Total folate intaked, μg/d | 732(334) | 697(323) | 680(322) | 629(313) | 696(325) | 724(328) | 773(321) | 766(332) |
| Total vitamin Dd, IU/d | 482(318) | 455(306) | 451(310) | 410(320) | 455(309) | 474(315) | 523(313) | 510(314) |
| Total fiberd, g/d | 24.5(7.7) | 23.9(7.4) | 23.4(7.2) | 23.3(8.3) | 23.8(7.4) | 24.1(7.5) | 24.8(7.3) | 25.9(8.0) |
| Red meat, servings/wk | 1.7(1.3) | 1.7(1.2) | 1.7(1.2) | 1.7(1.4) | 1.7(1.3) | 1.7(1.2) | 1.6(1.2) | 1.6(1.1) |
| Processed meat, servings/wk | 1.1(1.3) | 1.1(1.3) | 1.1(1.3) | 1.2(1.5) | 1.1(1.3) | 1.1(1.2) | 1.1(1.3) | 1.0(1.2) |
| Bowel movement frequency every 3 days or less, % | NA | 1 | 3 | 11 | 4 | |||
| Laxative use weekly to daily, % | 8 | 8 | 13 | 23 | NA | |||
Values are means (SD) or percentages and are standardized to the age distribution of the study population.
a
Body mass index was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters.
b
MET denotes metabolic equivalent. MET-hours = sum of the average time/week spent in each activity x MET value of each activity.
c
Dietary intakes were estimated with food-frequency questionnaire in 1998 except for multivitamin use from the 2000 questionnaire.
d
Nutrient values were energy-adjusted intake.
*
Value is not age adjusted