Table 2.

Comparisons of beliefs about bowel habit between IBS-C and controls (Main study)

	Controls (n = 746), n (%)	IBS-C (n = 759), n (%)	p-value
Female/male number	537/209 (72.0/28.0)	541/218 (71.3/28.7)	n.s.
Age (mean ± SD, years)	47 ± 14	47 ± 14	n.s.
Frequency of bowel habit (median, times/week)	7	3	<0.01
Ideal frequency of bowel habit			<0.01
6 times/week or less	113 (15.1)	165 (21.7)
7 times/week	581 (77.9)	563 (74.2)
8 times/week or more	52 (7.0)	31 (4.1)
Considered bowel habit to be an indicator of health			<0.01
None	291 (39.0)	71 (9.4)
Sometimes	206 (27.6)	221 (29.1)
Often	90 (12.1)	186 (24.5)
Mostly	69 (9.2)	148 (19.5)
Always	90 (12.1)	133 (17.5)
Degree of anxiety in daily life			<0.01
None	403 (54.0)	176 (23.2)
Sometimes	283 (37.9)	440 (58.0)
Often	46 (6.2)	111 (14.6)
Almost	14 (1.9)	32 (4.2)