Table 3.
Constipation symptoms in the total study group
| Overall | Sex | Age | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Men | Women | 18–38 years | 39–54 years | 55–80 years | |||
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | p value | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | p value | |
| Total | 892 (100) | 405 (100) | 487 (100) | 298 (100) | 299 (100) | 294 (100) | ||
| Constipation symptoms included in the Rome IV criteria for functional constipation | ||||||||
| Straining a | 238 (26.7) | 85 (21.0) | 153 (31.4) | < 0.001** | 110 (36.9) | 70 (23.3) | 58 (19.7) | < 0.001** |
| Incomplete defecation a | 191 (21.4) | 63 (15.6) | 128 (26.3) | < 0.001** | 88 (29.5) | 59 (19.7) | 44 (15.0) | < 0.001** |
| Anal blockage a | 125 (14.0) | 39 (9.6) | 86 (17.7) | 0.001** | 58 (19.5) | 38 (12.7) | 29 (9.9) | 0.002** |
| Hard or lumpy stool consistency | 87 (9.8) | 30 (7.4) | 57 (11.7) | 0.03* | 32 (10.7) | 26 (8.7) | 29 (9.9) | 0.69 |
| Stool frequency less than 3 times a week | 73 (8.2) | 27 (6.7) | 46 (9.4) | 0.13 | 41 (13.8) | 19 (6.3) | 13 (4.4) | < 0.001** |
| Using the hands during defecation a,b | 18 (2.0) | 4 (1.0) | 14 (2.9) | 0.05* | 5 (1.7) | 5 (1.7) | 8 (2.7) | 0.58 |
| Other constipation symptoms | ||||||||
| Daily failure to defecate | 126 (14.1) | 38 (9.4) | 88 (18.1) | < 0.001** | 65 (21.8) | 40 (13.3) | 21 (7.1) | < 0.001** |
| Average straining duration of more than 5 min | 132 (14.8) | 48 (11.9) | 84 (17.2) | 0.02* | 69 (23.2) | 38 (12.7) | 25 (8.5) | < 0.001** |
| Abdominal bloating | 324 (36.3) | 120 (29.6) | 204 (41.9) | < 0.001** | 142 (47.7) | 119 (39.7) | 63 (21.4) | < 0.001** |
| Anal pain a | 109 (12.2) | 36 (8.9) | 73 (15.0) | 0.006* | 62 (20.8) | 26 (8.7) | 21 (7.1) | < 0.001** |
| Abdominal pain a | 173 (19.4) | 46 (11.4) | 127 (26.1) | < 0.001** | 83 (27.9) | 63 (21.0) | 27 (9.2) | < 0.001** |
| Re-defecation within 1 h of stool passage a | 159 (17.8) | 59 (14.6) | 100 (20.5) | 0.02* | 59 (19.8) | 57 (19.0) | 43 (14.6) | 0.21 |
a Complaints had to occur at least several times per month
b Applying abdominal pressure with hands, manipulating the perineum, or removing stool from the rectoanal cavity with the fingers
* Statistical significance of p < 0.05
** Statistical significance of p < 0.005