Epidemiology of constipation and its associated factors in an ageing population of people with an intellectual disability in Ireland: A cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic profile of study participants.

Variable		n	%	Total
Gender	Male	266	44.2	602
	Female	336	55.8
Age (years)	40–49	72	12.0	602
	50–64	375	62.3
	65+	155	25.7
Level of ID	Mild	136	24.5	555^a
	Moderate	256	46.1
	Severe/Profound	163	29.4
Living Circumstance	Independent/Family	92	15.3	602
	Community Group Home	243	40.4
	Residential Setting	267	44.3

^a 47 participants did not identify their level of ID.

Table 2. Prevalence of constipation stratified by demographics, health and lifestyle factors with corresponding tests for association.

		n	Prevalence (%)	Test statistic^a	P-value
Age	< 50	31	43.1	X^2(2) = 4.1	0.13
	50–64	153	40.8
	65+	78	50.3
Sex	Male	98	36.8	OR = 1.63 [1.16–2.3]	3.75 × 10^−3*
	Female	164	48.3
Level of ID	Mild	42	30.9	X^2(2) = 22.74	1.15 × 10^−5*
	Moderate	112	42.8
	Severe/Profound	95	54.7
Living Circumstance	Independent/Family	12	13.0	X^2(2) = 48.35	3.17 × 10^−11*
	Community	104	42.8
	Residential	146	54.7
Aetiology	Down Syndrome	45	42.1	OR = 0.93 [0.59–1.44]	0.75
	Other	217	43.8
Morbidity	Osteoporosis	77	29.5	OR = 2.31 [1.53–3.51]	3.62 × 10^−5*
	Psychiatric Condition	162	61.8	OR = 1.99 [1.41–2.81]	3.80 × 10^−5*
	High Cholesterol	119	45.6	OR = 1.97 [1.39–2.81]	8.25 × 10^−5*
	Epilepsy	115	44.1	OR = 1.81 [1.34–2.72]	2.12 × 10^−4*
	Gastroesophageal Reflux	57	21.8	OR = 2.03 [1.28–3.24]	1.74 × 10^−3*
	Stomach Ulcers	23	8.8	OR = 3.17 [1.42–7.62]	2.04 × 10^−3*
	Scoliosis	31	11.9	OR = 2.27 [1.21–4.36]	7.08 × 10^−3*
	Dementia	31	11.9	OR = 2.14 [1.5–4.08]	1.17 × 10^−2*
	Cerebral Palsy	27	10.3	OR = 2.18 [1.12–4.37]	1.71 × 10^−2*
	Parkinson’s Disease	6	2.3	OR = 7.93 [0.96–366.23]	0.05
	Lung Disease	15	5.7	OR = 2.23 [0.9–5.89]	0.06
	Cancer	8	3.1	OR = 3.52 [0.83–20.89]	0.06
	Arthritis	59	22.6	OR = 1.44 [0.94–2.22]	0.08
	Abnormal Heart Rhythm	28	10.7	OR = 1.64 [0.89–3.07]	0.10
	Irritable Bowel Syndrome	11	4.2	OR = 2.08 [0.72–6.44]	0.15
	Thyroid Disease	65	24.9	OR = 1.29 [0.87–1.94]	0.20
	Coeliac Disease	7	2.7	OR = 2.30 [0.58–10.86]	0.22
	Age-Related Macular Degeneration	17	6.5	OR = 1.50 [0.69–3.29]	0.28
	Spina Bifida	5	1.9	OR = 2.18 [0.42–14.19]	0.30
	Cataracts	46	17.6	OR = 1.26 [0.79–2]	0.31
	Glaucoma	10	3.8	OR = 1.64 [0.57–4.86]	0.34
	Stroke	10	3.8	OR = 1.64 [0.57–4.86]	0.34
	Heart Failure	7	2.7	OR = 1.83 [0.49–7.41]	0.38
	Alzheimer’s Disease	10	3.8	OR = 1.46 [0.52–4.12]	0.48
	Heart Murmur	18	6.9	OR = 1.24 [0.6–2.56]	0.61
	Diabetes	26	9.9	OR = 1.13 [0.63–2.04]	0.67
	Transient Ischaemic Attack	11	4.2	OR = 1.09 [0.44–2.71]	0.83
	Asthma	17	6.5	OR = 0.95 [0.47–1.91]	0.99
Morbidity Burden	High	75	61.7	X^2(2) = 37.62	6.78 × 10^−9*
	Medium	98	46.7
	Low	87	30.2
Mobility (difficulty walking 100 yards)	No Difficulty	133	35.5	X^2(3) = 31.098	8.10 × 10^−7*
	Some Difficulty	39	48.1
	A lot of Difficulty	29	54.7
	Unable	59	65.6
RAPA	Sedentary	61	59.8	X^2(2) = 18.16	1.14 × 10^−4*
	Under Active	170	43
	Active	24	28.9
IPAQ	No Activity	88	56.8	X^2(3) = 29.78	1.54 × 10^−6*
	Inactive	105	47.8
	Minimal Activity	62	30.4
	Active	5	25
BMI	Underweight	1	–	X^2(2) = 4.84	0.09
	Normal	27	48.2
	Overweight	38	36.2
	Obese	39	31.2
Diet	Soft/Liquidised	76	29.5	OR = 3.19 [2.05–5.05]	6.04 × 10^−8*
	Thickened Fluids	27	10.5	OR = 2.70 [1.33–5.70]	3.06 × 10^−3*
	Low Fat	66	25.6	OR = 2.49 [1.59–3.93]	3.63 × 10^−5*
	Weight Loss	10	3.9	OR = 0.71 [0.29–1.67]	0.44
	Low Sodium	9	3.5	OR = 2.40 [0.71–9.24]	0.17
	High Calorie	11	4.2	OR = 2.10 [0.73–6.49]	0.15
	Diabetic	18	7.0	OR = 1.13 [0.56–2.29]	0.74
Fluid Intake	High	71	53.4	X^2(2) = 29.07	4.87 × 10^−7*
	Medium	77	54.6
	Low	62	29.5

^a Where more than two categories existed, X² statistics were used. Degrees of freedom are given in parentheses. Where there were two categories, Fisher’s Exact Test was used. OR = Odds Ratio. 95% confidence intervals are given in square brackets.

*Denotes p-values significant after controlling for False Discovery Rate (FDR 5%).

Table 3. Multivariate logistic regression model. Using 10-fold cross validation, the model predicts constipation status with 67.7% accuracy. McFadden’s adjusted R² = 0.17.

Risk Factor		Odds Ratio	95% CI	P-Value
Sex	Male
	Female	1.28	0.85–2.09	0.271
Age	<50
	50–64	0.67	0.33–1.37	0.264
	65+	0.77	0.34–1.73	0.527
Residence	Independent
	Community	3.93	1.67–10.47	3.10 × 10^−3
	Residential	5.11	2.13–13.84	5.46 × 10^−4
Level of ID	Mild
	Moderate	1.18	0.67–2.12	0.564
	Severe/Profound	1.96	1.02–3.80	0.044
Soft/Liquid Diet		1.61	0.91–2.85	0.101
Low Fat Diet		1.76	1.00–3.10	0.048
High Cholesterol		1.73	1.07–2.83	0.026
Total Morbidity		1.22	1.09–1.38	6.34 × 10^−4
IPAQ	No Activity
	Inactive	0.88	0.51–1.51	0.636
	Minimally Active	0.50	0.28–0.90	0.021
	Active	0.25	0.05–0.98	0.062

P-Values in bold are statistically significant at a nominal significance threshold of p < 0.05.