Gastroenterology

Gastroenterology

Volume 102, Issue 3, March 1992, Pages 895-901
Gastroenterology

Prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms in the elderly: A population-based study

https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-5085(92)90175-XGet rights and content

Abstract

The prevalence of chronic gastrointestinal symptoms and the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the elderly, and their impact on health, is largely unknown. The prevalence of symptoms compatible with IBS was estimated in a representative sample of elderly community residents, and the impact of these symptoms was determined on presentation for health care. An age- and sex-stratified random sample of noninstitutionalized Olmsted County, Minnesota, residents aged 65–93 years were mailed a valid questionnaire; 77% responded (n = 328). The age- and sex-adjusted prevalence (per 100 persons) of frequent abdominal pain was 24.3 [95% confidence interval (CI), 19.3–29.2], Chronic constipation and chronic diarrhea had prevalences of 24.1 (95% CI, 19.1–29.0) and 14.2 (95% CI, 10.1–18.2), respectively. Fecal incontinence more than once a week was reported in 3.7 per 100 (95% CI, 1.6–5.9). The prevalence of symptoms compatible with IBS (≥3 Manning criteria with frequent abdominal pain) was 10.9 per 100 (95% CI, 7.2–14.6). Among the subjects sampled who had abdominal pain, chronic constipation, and/or chronic diarrhea (n = 152), only 23% had seen a physician for pain or disturbed defecation in the prior year, and this behavior was poorly explained by the symptoms. It is concluded that complaints consistent with functional gastrointestinal disorders are common in the elderly, but symptoms are a poor predictor of presentation for medical care.

References (24)

  • A Sonnenberg et al.

    Epidemiology of constipation in the United States

    Dis Colon Rectum

    (1989)
  • JS Milne et al.

    Bowel habit in older people

    Gerontol Clin

    (1972)
  • Cited by (491)

    • Fecal Incontinence in the Elderly

      2021, Clinics in Geriatric Medicine
    View all citing articles on Scopus

    Supported in part by the Mayo Digestive Diseases Core Center grant (DK 34988) and the Rochester Epidemiology Project (AR 30582) from the National Institutes of Health and by a research grant from Marion Laboratories.

    This work was presented in part during the American Gastroenterological Association meeting in New Orleans, May 1991, and was published as an abstract (Gastroenterology 1991;100:A500).

    View full text