Abstract
In order to determine bowel patterns and perceptions of diarrhea and constipation in young adults not seeking health care, we surveyed 1128 young adults about their bowel habits. The mean number of stools varied by race and sex. Whites reported more frequent stools than nonwhites (7.8 vs 6.0 stools per week, P<0.0001) and men reported more frequent stools than women (9.2 vs 6.7 stools per week, P<0.0001). Milk and coffee consumption differed by race and sex, but did not account for the differences in stool frequency. Subjects were asked to estimate the percentage of the time their stools were normal or abnormal. The median value for normal was 85% of the time; only 3.6% of subjects reported diarrhea greater than 25% of the time, and only 7.3% reported constipation greater than 25% of the time. Subjects most commonly defined constipation as straining and hard stools and diarrhea as looselwatery stools and urgency. Investigators should use race- and sex-specific norms to study individuals who have patterns which deviate from the usual. Investigators and clinicians must also consider definitions used by their subjects.
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Supported in part by Grant AM29934 from the National Institutes of Health. The authors thank the Department of Family Medicine and the Student Health Service of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the North Carolina Memorial Hospital Employee Relations Office for permission to administer the survey.
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Sandler, R.S., Drossman, D.A. Bowel habits in young adults not seeking health care. Digest Dis Sci 32, 841–845 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01296706
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01296706