TABLE 1. Baseline data for two groups of patients.

Variables	Control group	Observation group	χ2/t value	p
Cases (n)	82	87
Age (years)	48.1±13.7	46.8±17.5	0.539	0.590
Gender (n)
male	29	33	0.120	0.729
female	53	54
BMI (kg/m2)	23.8±2.9	23.3±3.2	1.065	0.288
Duration of disease (years)	13.5±9.3	12.6±10.4	0.594	0.554
Spicy eating habits (n)
positive	14	17	0.172	0.679
negative	68	70
Drinking habits (n)
positive	17	19	0.031	0.861
negative	65	68
Sedentary habit (n)
positive	35	40	0.186	0.667
negative	47	47
Family history (n)
positive	42	45	0.004	0.948
negative	40	42
Staging of internal hemorrhoids (n)
grade III	55	51	0.120	0.793
grade IV	27	36

BMI=Body Mass Index