Table 5.
Quartiles of caffeinated fluid intake* and bowel symptoms
| Quartile 1 (0–265mL) |
Quartile 2 (266–709mL) |
Quartile 3 (710–1034mL) |
Quartile 4 (>1034 mL) |
P value † | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strain too hard to have a bowel movement, n (%)** | 25 (39) | 24 (44) | 25 (49) | 31 (44) | 0.39 |
| Incomplete emptying at the end of a bowel movement, n (%) | 28 (47) | 28 (56) | 17 (35) | 34 (50) | 0.08 |
| Pain when passing stool, n (%) | 13 (21) | 5 (10) | 3 (6) | 14 (20) | 0.18 |
| Fecal incontinence (well formed stool), n (%) | 7 (11) | 3 (6) | 3 (6) | 9 (13) | 0.79 |
| Fecal incontinence (liquid stool), n (%) | 17 (27) | 7 (13) | 8 (16) | 17 (25) | 0.54 |
| Flatal incontinence, n (%) | 35 (56) | 26 (49) | 21 (41) | 33 (47) | 0.89 |
| Fecal urgency, n (%) | 29 (45) | 16 (31) | 11 (22) | 28 (39) | 0.12 |
| Passage of bowel through rectum with bowel movements, n (%) | 6 (10) | 7 (13) | 7 (15) | 14 (20) | 0.44 |
*
Caffeinated fluid includes caffeinated coffee, soda and tea
**
n(%) yes = “somewhat”, “moderately”, “quite a bit”
†
χ2