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Table 1 Characteristics of all participants (independent of complaints), participants with constipations and participants with diarrhoea, and comparisons between subjects with and without diarrhoea and with and without constipation.

From: Constipation and diarrhoea - common adverse drug reactions? A cross sectional study in the general population

Characteristics

All participants

n = 4622

Participants with constipation

n = 640

Participants with diarrhoea

n = 407

Age (years)

49.4 (13.8)

52.2 (15.1)***

50.7 (13.7)†

Gender (male) (%)

43.6

21.3***

50.4**

Body mass index (kg/m2) [0.2%]

26.9 (4.2)

26.1(4.1)***

27.2 (4.1)*

Cohabiting (%) [14.9%]

89.3

87.9

86.2*

Years of education [1.0%]

12.2 (3.5)

12.0 (3.5) †

11.7 (3.4) *

Physical activity (breathless) (%) [7.2%] <1 hr/1-2 hrs/>3 hrs a week

58.8/27.0/14.2

60.9/27.7/11.4 *

60.6/26.9/12.5

Cups of coffee/day [1.0%]

3.7 (2.8)

3.4 (2.6) *

3.8 (2.9)

Frequency of use of alcohol ¤ [0.8%]

4.4 (1.7)

4.1 *** (1.7)

4.6 * (1.7)

Use of alcohol >1 time/week (%)

10.6

8.2 *

12.9 †

Smoking habits (%) [0.6%] Never/Past/Current

44.5/27.2/28.3

46.1/27.4/26.5

35.9/31.4/32.7 ***

Asthma (%) [2.1%]

8.7

10.6 *

9.8

Allergic rhinitis (%) [15.4%]

12.9

13.6

13.5

Bronchitis (%) [3.5%]

2.5

2.7

2.5

Diabetes (%) [2.5%]

2.1

3.3 *

3.4 †

Osteoporosis (%) [3.3%]

2.4

4.7 ***

3.7 †

Myocardial infarction (%) [2.4%]

2.8

2.8

3.7

Angina pectoris (%) [2.4%]

3.7

6.1 *

4.2

Cerebral stroke (%) [2.5%]

2.0

3.1 *

3.7 *

Epilepsy (%) [0.8%]

1.6

2.4 †

1.7

Multiple sclerosis (%) [4.0%]

0.5

1.5 **

0.7

Musculoskeletal complaints §

2.2 (2.2)

2.6 (2.4) ***

2.7 (2.4) ***

HSCL 10 # [6.4%]

1.3 (0.4)

1.4 (0.5) ***

1.4 (0.5) ***

Use of drugs (Yes) (%)

62.5

72,5 ***

70.3 ***

Number of drugs

1.34 (1.56)

1.64 (1.67) ***

1.70 (1.78)***

Number of drugs (%) 0 drug/1 drug/2 or 3 drugs/≥4

37.5/28.3/24.5/9.8

27.5/30.3/29.7/12.5***

29.7/29.0/25.8/15.5***

  1. The results are given as number of subjects, proportion (in percentage) or mean (with SD in brackets) and the proportion of missing data to each question in square brackets.
  2. † = p < 0.20; * = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001.
  3. ¤ Frequency of use of alcohol: 8 point ordinal scale: 1 = never used to 8 = 4-7 times a week
  4. § Musculoskeletal complaints: Sum score (six location and intensity) 0-12
  5. # HSCL 10: Hopkins Symptom Check List 10 (Mood disorders) 1-4