Table 1.
General Characteristics of the participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005–2010
| Characteristic |
Total
(n = 13,945) |
Non-constipation (n = 12,538) |
Constipation
(n = 1407) |
P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Female | 6870 (50.41) | 5898 (47.96) | 972 (73.85) | |
| Male | 7075 (49.59) | 6640 (52.04) | 435 (26.15) | |
| Age, n (%) | 0.202 | |||
| < 65 years | 10,488 (82.68) | 9395 (82.54) | 1093 (84.05) | |
| ≥ 65 years | 3457 (17.32) | 3143 (17.46) | 314 (15.95) | |
| BMI, kg/m2, Mean (S.E) | 28.71 (0.10) | 28.80 (0.11) | 27.84 (0.25) | < 0.001 |
| Race, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Mexican American | 2506 (8.04) | 2280 (8.07) | 226 (7.80) | |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 2779 (10.84) | 2411 (10.28) | 368 (16.21) | |
| Non-Hispanic White | 6938 (71.45) | 6314 (72.02) | 624 (65.96) | |
| Other Hispanic | 1171 (4.33) | 1030 (4.24) | 141 (5.20) | |
| Other Race | 551 (5.33) | 503 (5.39) | 48 (4.83) | |
| Education level, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| ≤ 12th | 3906 (18.15) | 3447 (17.71) | 459 (22.32) | |
| GED | 3361 (24.53) | 2971 (24.02) | 390 (29.49) | |
| College or above | 6678 (57.32) | 6120 (58.27) | 558 (48.19) | |
| Marital status, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| Married | 7433 (57.15) | 6774 (57.83) | 659 (50.60) | |
| Widowed | 1193 (5.89) | 1055 (5.69) | 138 (7.75) | |
| Divorced/separated | 1982 (12.68) | 1763 (12.47) | 219 (14.71) | |
| Never married | 3330 (24.28) | 2939 (24.00) | 391 (26.94) | |
| Family Income, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| < 20,000$ | 3476 (17.43) | 3022 (16.73) | 454 (24.18) | |
| ≥ 20,000$ | 10,469 (82.57) | 9516 (83.27) | 953 (75.82) | |
| Drinking, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| No | 3915 (24.02) | 3380 (22.93) | 535 (34.46) | |
| Yes | 10,030 (75.98) | 9158 (77.07) | 872 (65.54) | |
| Smoking, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| No | 7265 (52.55) | 6456 (52.03) | 809 (57.56) | |
| Yes | 6680 (47.45) | 6082 (47.97) | 598 (42.44) | |
| Vigorous physical activity, n (%) | 0.007 | |||
| No | 10,763 (71.62) | 9627 (71.08) | 1136 (76.78) | |
| Yes | 3182 (28.38) | 2911 (28.92) | 271 (23.22) | |
| Moderate physical activity, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| No | 8010 (50.27) | 7133 (49.79) | 877 (54.87) | |
| Yes | 5935 (49.73) | 5405 (50.21) | 530 (45.13) | |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 0.015 | |||
| No | 9012 (69.14) | 8047 (68.84) | 965 (71.96) | |
| Yes | 4933 (30.86) | 4491 (31.16) | 442 (28.04) | |
| Depression, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| No | 12,751 (92.99) | 11,558 (93.71) | 1193 (86.02) | |
| Yes | 1194 (7.01) | 980 (6.29) | 214 (13.98) | |
| Cotinine, ng/mL, Mean (S.E) | 62.56 (2.58) | 62.35 (2.55) | 64.66 (5.72) | 0.657 |
| Total energy intake, kcal, Mean (S.E) | 2129.06 (13.61) | 2153.76 (14.76) | 1891.98 (20.16) | < 0.001 |
| Dietary supplements, n (%) | < 0.001 | |||
| No | 7248 (48.33) | 6444 (47.76) | 804 (53.86) | |
| Yes | 6697 (51.67) | 6094 (52.24) | 603 (46.14) | |
| Calcium supplement (mg), Mean (S.E) | 957.87 (9.03) | 970.38 (9.34) | 837.81 (15.51) | < 0.001 |
| Use of laxatives, n (%) | 0.117 | |||
| No | 13,891 (99.66) | 12,493 (99.70) | 1398 (99.34) | |
| Yes | 54 (0.34) | 45 (0.30) | 9 (0.66) | |
| HEI score, Mean (S.E) | 52.94 (0.29) | 53.19 (0.29) | 50.54 (0.43) | < 0.001 |
Abbreviation: BMI, body mass index; S.E, standard error; GED, General Educational Development; HEI, healthy eating index
Note: The continuous data were shown as mean (S.E), and differences between groups were compared using t test. The categorical data were shown as number and percentage [n (%)], and differences between groups were compared using chi-squared test