Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate defecation patterns in healthy men and women ≥ 20 years old using 4-week bowel movement records in order to establish criteria for classifying bowel movement condition. Subjects were asked to keep bowel movement records for 4 weeks regarding stool form (watery, mushy, normal, or hard) and quantity (thumb head size, intermediate size, or fist size) at each bowel movement.
Bowel movement records were collected by convenience sampling from 224 subjects. Subjects with incomplete records or possible illness were excluded (n=5) and a total of 219 subjects were analyzed (50 men, 169 women ; mean age, 38 ± 14 years). Without setting criteria in advance, bowel movement patterns were classified based on stool similarity, and criteria were then inductively extracted based on the number of days on which bowel movements occurred during the 4-week period, the total number of bowel movements during the 4-week period, stool form and stool quantity.
Bowel movement patterns were labeled as normal (n=147), constipation (n=51), diarrhea (n=13), or diarrhea and constipation (n=8). Subjects taking medication were excluded (n=27) and analysis of the remaining 192 subjects indicated that constipation criteria comprised bowel movements occurring on 3.5 days/week (mean) with consideration simultaneously given to stool form and quantity. Diarrhea criteria comprised mushy or watery stool form rather than quantity or number of days on which bowel movement occurred. Women and subjects in their 20s showed a higher tendency toward constipation.
