Functional Constipation and Constipation-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome in the General Population: Data from the GECCO Study

Table 4

Clinical data and health care behaviors in the functionally constipated participants () in the questionnaire by type of constipation (IBS-C, FC-R, and FC—see text for definitions). Data are unweighted.

	IBS-C,	FC-R,	FC,	Statistic^#
				ANOVA	Post hoc test
					1-2	1–3	2-3
Constipation characteristics
Duration of C (in years)	9.1 ± 1.4	9.6 ± 2.4	8.6 ± 1.2	n.s.	—	—	—
To doctor for C: yes	13	2	15	n.s.	—	—	—
Medication for C: yes	21	6	23	n.s.	—	—	—
<3 stools/w: yes	27	19	32		n.s.
Straining: yes	51	20	65				n.s.
Hard stools: yes	54	28	79	n.s.	—	—	—
Health care behaviors
Current medication: yes	11	8	11	n.s.	—	—	—
Does it help: yes	11	8	11	n.s.	—	—	—
Side effects: yes	14 (11)	5	11	n.s.	—	—	—
Changed diet: yes	41	21	36		n.s.
Sick leave for C: yes	4	0	6	n.s.^+	—	—	—
Inpatient for C: yes	0	0	2	n.s.^+	—	—	—
CAM for C: yes	13	4	6		n.s.		n.s.
Currently working: yes	43	28	78	n.s.	—	—	—
Yes: clean WC available	37	25	65	n.s.^+	—	—	—
Yes: WC visit any time	12	10	32	n.s.	—	—	—

C: constipation; CAM: complementary and alternative medicine; ^#ANOVA: univariate, 3 groups, or chi-square: “IBS” versus “functional constipation” (FC-R + FC): only in case of significance, pairwise post hoc comparisons; only those who take meds; only those who are working; post hoc testing: ; ; ; ⁺Fisher’s Exact Test; n.s.: not significant.