The impact of functional constipation on quality of life of middle-aged Black Americans: a prospective case-control study

• Published in: Quality of life research Vol. 21; no. 10; pp. 1713 - 1717
• Main Authors: Friedenberg, Frank K., Dadabhai, Alia, Palit, Amiya, Sankineni, Abhinav
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 01.12.2012; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adjustment; Adult; African Americans; Aged; Arthritis; Back pain; Black or African American; Black People; Brief Communication; Cardiovascular disease; Case-Control Studies; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CLINICAL AND POLICY APPLICATIONS; Clinical trials; Colorectal cancer; Comorbidity; Constipation; Constipation - physiopathology; Control groups; Coronary vessels; Demography; Disorders; Education; Female; Gastroenterology; Gender; Health Surveys; Heart failure; Humans; Male; Medical screening; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental Health; Middle age; Middle Aged; Population; Population control; Prospective Studies; Public Health; Quality of Life; Quality of Life Research; Sociology; Standard deviation; Surveys and Questionnaires; Systematic review; Vein & artery diseases; Vitality; Black American; Constipation; Quality of life; SF-36
• ISSN: 0962-9343; 1573-2649; 1573-2649
• DOI: 10.1007/s11136-011-0089-z

Purpose To quantify the impact of constipation on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Black Americans. Methods Case-control design. Black subjects referred for colon cancer screening with a Bristol Stool Score of 3-5 for > 75% of bowel movements served as controls. Frequencymatched functional constipation subjects had to fulfill Rome III criteria. Both groups completed demographic and health surveys. Short Form-36 assessed HRQoL. Results We recruited 102 constipated patients and 100 controls. The groups were well matched demographically. After adjustment for comorbidities, SF-36 scores for vitality, bodily pain, social functioning, and role-emotional were significantly lower in constipated patients. Unadjusted physical and mental component summary scores (PCS and MCS) were significantly higher in the control group (47.1 ± 10.6 vs. 43.3 ± 8.6; P = 0.005 and 50.6 ± 12.4 vs. 43.4 ± 11.8; P < 0.001, respectively) After adjustment for comorbidities, PCS differences were no longer significant (P = 0.54); however, MCS differences were significant (P = 0.004). Marginal mean scores for the MCS for controls and constipated subjects were 49.9 ± 1.2 and 43.6 ± 1.2, respectively. The presence of a comorbidity was independently associated with PCS (P < 0.001) and MCS (P = 0.026) results. Conclusions Functional constipation has a significant impact on HRQoL in middle-aged Black Americans, particularly in regard to mental well-being.