Table 1.
Characteristics of the Different Groups of Constipated Subjects According to Age Group
| Variables | Total | Age group (yr) | P-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||||
| < 30 | 30–< 45 | 45–< 60 | 60–< 75 | ≥ 75 | |||
| Demographics | |||||||
| Number | 354 (100) | 68 (19) | 102 (29) | 118 (33) | 47 (13) | 19 (5) | |
| Age (yr) | 46.0 ± 15.9 | 24.7 ± 3.4 | 38.1 ± 4.3 | 51.4 ± 4.3 | 66.8 ± 4.4 | 79.9 ± 3.9 | - |
| Female gender | 297 (84) | 59 (87) | 87 (85) | 99 (84) | 36 (77) | 16 (84) | 0.659 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 25.5 ± 5.5 | 24.2 ± 6.5 | 25.2 ± 5.1 | 26.4 ± 5.8 | 25.6 ± 4.3 | 26.0 ± 4.0 | 0.130 |
| Clinical phenotype | |||||||
| Functional constipation | 215 (61) | 37 (17) | 58 (27) | 79 (37) | 26 (12) | 15 (7) | 0.141 |
| IBS-C | 139 (39) | 31 (22) | 44 (32) | 39 (28) | 21 (15) | 4 (3) | |
| Defecation disorders | 243 (69) | 47 (69) | 75 (74) | 80 (68) | 27 (57) | 14 (74) | 0.387 |
| Scales | |||||||
| LS-constipation | 6.0 ± 2.5 | 6.3 ± 2.2 | 5.8 ± 2.3 | 5.8 ± 2.6 | 5.8 ± 2.7 | 6.9 ± 2.8 | 0.325 |
| LS-bloating | 5.1 ± 2.9 | 5.0 ± 2.8 | 5.5 ± 2.7 | 5.1 ± 3.0 | 5.0 ± 2.9 | 4.1 ± 3.4 | 0.371 |
| LS-abdominal pain | 4.2 ± 2.9 | 4.5 ± 2.9 | 4.3 ± 3.0 | 4.0 ± 3.0 | 4.4 ± 3.0 | 3.0 ± 2.8 | 0.337 |
| Bristol stool form | 2.1 ± 1.3 | 2.1 ± 1.3 | 2.2 ± 1.3 | 2.1 ± 1.3 | 2.0 ± 1.4 | 2.1 ± 1.3 | 0.929 |
| CTT (hr) | |||||||
| Right CTT | 22.9 ± 21.5 | 23.8 ± 23.1 | 23.1 ± 24.6 | 23.2 ± 20.5 | 19.4 ± 13.8 | 26.4 ± 20.4 | 0.753 |
| Left CTT | 28.2 ± 22.4 | 22.6 ± 16.9 | 25.0 ± 21.1 | 32.5 ± 24.4a | 32.5 ± 24.4 | 28.3 ± 23.3 | 0.014 |
| RSTT | 17.9 ± 17.2 | 24.4 ± 21.7 | 16.5 ± 17.4a | 16.4 ± 14.2a | 16.6 ± 16.7 | 13.7 ± 10.5 | 0.012 |
| Total CTT | 69.9 ± 43.3 | 75.6 ± 54.0 | 64.7 ± 39.5 | 71.8 ± 42.1 | 68.5 ± 40.8 | 69.5 ± 32.5 | 0.570 |
a
P < 0.05 by comparison to the youngest patients (< 30 years).
P < 0.05 was considered significant.
BMI, body mass index; IBS-C, irritable bowel syndrome with constipation; LS, Likert scale; CTT, colonic transit time; RSTT, rectosigmoid transit time. Quantitative parameters are expressed as mean ± SD and qualitative parameters are shown as n (%).