Clinical Characteristics of the Study Population From National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2010 (Using the Stool Consistency Definition of Constipation)
| Characteristic | No constipation | Constipation | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 12894 |
n = 1047 |
|||
| Gender | < 0.001 | |||
| Male | 6710 (50.5) | 345 (28.8) | ||
| Female | 6184 (49.5) | 702 (71.2) | ||
| Age (yr) | 0.013 | |||
| < 45 | 5285 (45.8) | 477 (49.8) | ||
| ≥ 45, < 65 | 4433 (37.0) | 324 (32.7) | ||
| ≥ 65 | 3176 (17.3) | 246 (17.5) | ||
| Ethnicity | < 0.001 | |||
| Non-Hispanic White | 6468 (72.4) | 455 (64.3) | ||
| Non-Hispanic Black | 2536 (10.6) | 244 (15.3) | ||
| Mexican American | 2308 (7.8) | 190 (9.7) | ||
| Other | 1066 (9.2) | 119 (10.8) | ||
| Education | < 0.001 | |||
| < 12th grade | 3546 (17.4) | 351 (24.0) | ||
| High school | 3063 (24.1) | 286 (29.3) | ||
| College | 6276 (58.4) | 407 (46.7) | ||
| Marital status | 0.001 | |||
| Never married | 2088 (17.3) | 194 (18.9) | ||
| Married | 7900 (63.8) | 583 (57.8) | ||
| Widowed/divorced/separated | 2899 (18.9) | 273 (23.3) | ||
| Income-poverty ratio (%) | <0.001 | |||
| < 2 | 5394 (32.1) | 517 (42.9) | ||
| ≥ 2 | 6571 (67.9) | 451 (57.1) | ||
| BMI (kg/m2) | ||||
| Normal | 3585 (30.8) | 365 (38.4) | < 0.001 | |
| Overweight | 4419 (33.7) | 340 (33.9) | ||
| Obesity | 4778 (35.5) | 330 (27.7) | ||
| Smoking | 0.130 | |||
| No | 3348(52.2) | 220(48.3) | ||
| Yes | 2905(47.8) | 208(51.7) | ||
| Poor oral health | 0.003 | |||
| No | 9399 (89.5) | 720 (83.9) | ||
| Yes | 1521 (10.5) | 154 (16.1) | ||
| Vitamin D deficiency | 0.690 | |||
| No | 7679 (72.8) | 597 (72.5) | ||
| Yes | 4176 (27.2) | 334 (27.5) | ||
| Depression | < 0.001 | |||
| No | 11 778 (92.5) | 903 (86.5) | ||
| Yes | 1116 (7.5) | 144 (13.5) | ||
| Diabetes | 0.896 | |||
| No | 11 350 (92.0) | 922 (91.3) | ||
| Yes | 1534 (8.0) | 123 (8.7) | ||
| Chronic diseases | 0.822 | |||
| None | 7263 (60.2) | 585 (57.3) | ||
| 1 | 3452 (26.7) | 275 (28.6) | ||
| 2 or more | 1974 (13.1) | 170 (14.0) | ||
| Milk | 0.035 | |||
| Never | 2075 (15.3) | 178 (17.2) | ||
| Rarely | 1893 (14.2) | 146 (13.9) | ||
| Sometimes | 3654 (28.7) | 257 (22.8) | ||
| Often | 5224 (41.8) | 460 (46.0) | ||
| Total fat | < 0.001 | |||
| T1 | 3649 (25.7) | 412 (36.8) | ||
| T2 | 4204 (32.4) | 310 (30.8) | ||
| T3 | 5041 (41.9) | 325 (32.4) | ||
| Carbohydrate | < 0.001 | |||
| T1 | 4018 (29.5) | 388 (35.1) | ||
| T2 | 4358 (34.4) | 333 (32.7) | ||
| T3 | 4518 (36.1) | 326 (32.2) | ||
| Protein | < 0.001 | |||
| T1 | 3230 (22.4) | 358 (31.8) | ||
| T2 | 4276 (32.5) | 365 (35.1) | ||
| T3 | 5388 (45.1) | 324 (33.2) | ||
| Total saturated fatty acids | < 0.001 | |||
| T1 | 4100 (28.4) | 427 (38.0) | ||
| T2 | 4071 (31.1) | 317 (30.8) | ||
| T3 | 4723 (40.5) | 303 (31.2) | ||
| Cholesterol | < 0.001 | |||
| T1 | 3362 (25.7) | 350 (33.3) | ||
| T2 | 4305 (34.1) | 334 (33.7) | ||
| T3 | 5227 (40.2) | 363 (33.0) | ||
| Alcohol | < 0.001 | |||
| < 6 | 9809 (74.2) | 886 (84.4) | ||
| ≥ 6 | 3085 (25.8) | 161 (15.6) | ||
| Moisture | < 0.001 | |||
| T1 | 1916 (11.0) | 240 (20.0) | ||
| T2 | 4459 (32.0) | 394 (36.9) | ||
| T3 | 6519 (57.0) | 413 (43.0) | ||
| Dietary fiber | < 0.001 | |||
| T1 | 3234 (23.1) | 359 (34.9) | ||
| T2 | 4251 (33.3) | 325 (29.6) | ||
| T3 | 5409 (43.6) | 363 (35.5) | ||
| Dietary fiber (g) | 16.5 ± 10.1 | 13.9 ± 8.4 | < 0.001 | |
| Physical activity | < 0.001 | |||
| Non-active | 2545 (22.0) | 239 (28.4) | ||
| Active | 7763 (78.0) | 544 (71.6) | ||
an represents unweighted counts.
bPercentages are weighted to the American population.
Values are expressed as n (%) or mean ± SD.