- Title
- Impact of persistent constipation on health-related quality of life and mortality in older community-dwelling women
- Creator
- Koloski, N. A.; Jones, M.; Wai, R.; Gill, R. S.; Byles, J.; Talley, N. J.
- Relation
- American Journal of Gastroenterology Vol. 108, Issue 7, p. 1152-1158
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ajg.2013.137
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2013
- Description
- OBJECTIVES: Very little is known about whether the reported health-related impact of constipation is worse in people who experience constipation over a long period of time vs. those with more transient symptoms. We aimed to determine the impact of persistent vs. transient constipation on health-related quality of life (QOL), depression, and mortality. METHODS: We analyzed data from 5,107 women (aged 70–75 years in 1996) who answered “Have you had constipation in the past 12 months?” in all five surveys sent out every 3 years of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. RESULTS: Of the 5,107 women, 20.9, 54.1, and 24.7% reported having persistent constipation on at least 4 out of 5 surveys, transient constipation reported on 1–3 surveys, or none reported over the 15-year time frame, respectively. Women who reported persistent constipation had significantly lower scores for all domains of QOL on the SF-36 except role-emotional, and had higher levels of self-reported depression, even after adjusting for number of chronic illnesses and fluid intake. Mortality rates were increased when comparing women with no reported constipation with persistently reported constipation (8.2% vs. 11%, odds ratio = 1.32, 95% confidence interval 1.0, 1.74, P = 0.05) controlling for specific chronic illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent constipation among older women is associated with poor health outcomes.
- Subject
- gastroenterology; constipation; depression; mortality rates
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1299919
- Identifier
- uon:19977
- Identifier
- ISSN:0002-9270
- Language
- eng
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