Constipation in elderly patients attending a polyclinic.

P J Meiring; G Joubert

Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 9698719

Constipation in elderly patients attending a polyclinic.

P J Meiring·G Joubert

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of and risk factors for constipation in the elderly. Differences between the white and black elderly populations in this regard were examined. DESIGN: Cross-section hospital-based study. SETTING: The family medicine clinics at National and Pelonomi hospitals in greater Bloemfontein. PARTICIPANTS: 179 white and 188 black patients, born before 1930, visiting the clinics during December and January 1994/95 and seen by one doctor. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Constipation. RESULTS: In both the black and white population groups 29% of the participants were constipated according to the definition used in this study. Depression was a risk factor for constipation in both population groups. Age over 80 years was a risk factor in the black participants. The fibre and fluid contents of participants' diets were not found to be associated with constipation. Pain during defaecation was positively associated with constipation. Forty-three per cent of the white and 76.6% of the black participants used laxatives. Of the white and black laxative users 14.3% and 21.5%, respectively, used more than one laxative at a time. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of constipation was high in both groups. Laxative use and abuse are very common in the black elderly population.

Explore related subjects

Age Factors Aged Aged, 80 and over Ambulatory Care Facilities Black People Cathartics Constipation Cross-Sectional Studies Depression Dietary Fiber Drinking Drug Utilization Female Humans Male Prevalence Risk Factors White People Journal Article

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

P J Meiring, G Joubert. 1998. Constipation in elderly patients attending a polyclinic.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9698719/

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2007

Excess of cancers in Europe: a study of eleven major cancers amenable to lifestyle change.

Worldwide an estimated 11 million cancer cases were diagnosed in 2002, one quarter being in Europe. We estimated the potential in avoidable numbers and proportions of 11 cancers amenable to prevention (cancers of the oral cavity, oesophagus, stomach, colorectal, pancreas, laryngeal, lung, female breast, endometrium, kidney and bladder) in 28 European countries. We assumed that the aggregated rate of 3 countries with lowest incidence to be attainable throughout Europe. The difference between the age- and gender-specific national cancer incidence rates and the lowest rate observed in 2002 was determined and defined as "avoidable." Of the 1.4 million adult cases of selected cancers and countries within our study, 363,000 (59%) cancers in males and 326,000 (45%) cancers in females were hypothetically avoidable. Among men, the proportion was largest in Hungary (77%) and among women, in Belgium (54%). Assuming that differences in cancer incidence are not attributable to genetic susceptibility or diagnostic activity, about 50% of all cases of these 11 cancers could be potentially avoided, especially by decreased smoking among men. Interventions directed at reducing smoking, obesity and alcohol use as well as increasing physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake are necessary to attain lower incidence rates. It is important to recognize that the actual preventable cancer by eliminating currently known risk factors is somewhat less than we have estimated.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2007

Choice of time scale and its effect on significance of predictors in longitudinal studies.

Time-to-event regression is a frequent tool in biomedical research. In clinical trials this time is usually measured from the beginning of the study. The same approach is often adopted in the analysis of longitudinal observational studies. However, in recent years there has appeared literature making a case for the use of the date of birth as a starting point, and thus utilize age as the time-to-event. In this paper, we explore different types of age-scale models and compare them with time-on-study models in terms of the estimated regression coefficients they produce. We consider six proportional hazards regression models that differ in the choice of time scale and in the method of adjusting for the years before the study. By considering the estimating equations of these models as well as numerical simulations we conclude that correct adjustment for the age at entry is crucial in reducing bias of the estimated coefficients. The unadjusted age-scale model is inferior to any of the five other models considered, regardless of their choice of time scale. Additionally, if adjustment for age at entry is made, our analyses show very little to suggest that there exists any practically meaningful difference in the estimated regression coefficients depending on the choice of time scale. These findings are supported by four practical examples from the Framingham Heart Study.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2007

Reproductive risk factors for incident bladder cancer: Iowa Women's Health Study.

We studied the association between reproductive factors and bladder cancer incidence in a prospective cohort study of 37,459 Iowa women aged 55-69 years and initially free from cancer in 1986. Women reported reproductive history and were followed prospectively through 2003. After adjusting for age and smoking, there was an inverse association between age at menopause and incident bladder cancer (n = 192). Compared with menopause at age > or =48, the hazard ratio (HR) of bladder cancer was 1.32 (95% CI; 0.90-1.94) for menopause at 43-47, and 1.60 (95% CI; 1.06-2.39) for < or =42 (p-trend = 0.02). The associations were similar for ages at natural and surgical menopause. In addition, women with a history of bilateral oophorectomy had an increased risk of bladder cancer compared with those who did not undergo bilateral oophorectomy: HR = 1.58 (95% CI; 1.12, 2.22). Finally, there was an indication of a positive association between bladder cancer and shorter lifetime years of ovulation (p-trend = 0.09). There were no associations between incident bladder cancer and age at first birth, number of births, age at menarche, use of hormone replacement therapy or any other reproductive characteristics. This study provides evidence that increased risk of bladder cancer is associated with earlier age at menopause in postmenopausal women.

Age Factors↗