Table 1.
Demographic features in 1306 patients answering questionnaires on constipation during a GP visit according to constipation and questionnaire
| Demographic feature | Self-C (n = 433) | VAS-C (n = 302) | Rome-C (n = 298) | Not-C (n = 759) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 119 (27.5) | 79 (26.2) | 81 (27.2) | 349 (46.0) |
| Female | 314 (72.5) | 223 (73.8) | 217 (72.8) | 410 (54.0)a |
| Age (years) | ||||
| <55 | 196 (45.5) | 132 (43.7) | 136 (45.6) | 372 (49.2) |
| >55 | 235 (54.5) | 170 (56.3) | 162 (54.4) | 384 (50.8) |
| Total | 431 (100.0) | 302 (100.0) | 298 (100.0) | 756 (100.0) |
| NR | 2 (0.5) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (0.4) |
| School level | ||||
| Low | 262 (61.4) | 190 (63.3) | 189 (64.1) | 440 (59.1) |
| High | 165 (38.6) | 110 (36.7) | 106 (35.9) | 304 (40.9) |
| Total | 427 (100.0) | 300 (100.0) | 295 (100.0) | 744 (100.0) |
| NR | 6 (1.4) | 2 (0.7) | 3 (1.0) | 15 (2.0) |
| Physical activity | ||||
| Light | 343 (81.7) | 244 (83.8) | 239 (84.2) | 489 (70.9) |
| Moderate–high | 77 (18.3) | 47 (16.2) | 45 (15.8) | 201 (29.1) |
| Total | 420 (100.0) | 291 (100.0) | 284 (100.0) | 690 (100.0) |
| NR | 13 (3.0) | 11 (3.6) | 14 (4.7) | 69 (9.0) |
Values are n (%).
Self-C: self-reported constipation (positive answer at the direct question: ‘Do you consider yourself suffering of constipation?’); VAS-C: constipation measured by a visual analogue scale (score >2 out of 10 cm); Rome-C: constipation defined according to the Rome III criteria; Not-C: patients not fulfilling any of the three criteria; NR: not reported.
a
p = 0.01 vs. Self-C, VAS-C, and Rome C, by multivariate analysis.