Chronic constipation in hemiplegic patients

Table 1 Characteristics of the study groups n (%)

	Hemiplegic(n = 90)	Orthopedic(n = 81)	P-value
Past/current smokers	25 (27.7)	11 (13.6)	0.03
Wine	40 (44.4)	42 (51.8)	0.29
Liqueurs	9 (10.0)	10 (12.3)	0.63
Secondary school	23 (25.5)	25 (30.8)	0.44
Employed	17 (18.8)	11 (13.6)	0.35
Sedentary activity	25 (27.7)	13 (16.0)	0.06

Table 2 Univariate analysis evaluating the association between social-demographic variables, mobility and drugs with onset of de novo constipation after cerebrovascular accidents of orthopedic trauma n (%)

All subjects	De novo constipation
	Yes	No	OR	95% CI	Pvalue
	n = 33	n = 138
	(19.30%)	(80.70%)
Age1 mean (range)	68.4 (27-95)	71.4 (22-94)	0.94	0.74-1.21	0.64
APECS2 mean (range)	3.29 (0-7)	3.68 (0-7)	0.88	0.71-1.09	0.27
Hemiplegics	27 (30.0)	63 (70.0)	5.36	2.08-13.8	0.01
Orthopedics	6 (7.4)	75 (92.6)	1
Males	13 (21.3)	48 (78.7)	0.82	0.38-1.79	0.62
Females	20 (18.2)	90 (81.8)	1
Smoking	11 (30.6)	25 (69.4)	2.26	0.97-5.25	0.06
Wine	12 (14.6)	70 (85.4)	0.56	0.25-1.22	0.14
Liqueur	2 (10.5)	17 (89.5)	0.46	0.10-2.09	0.32
Secondary school	9 (18.7)	39 (81.3)	0.95	0.41-2.23	0.91
Employed	6 (21.4)	22 (78.6)	1.17	0.43-3.17	0.31
Sedentary activity	8 (21.0)	30 (79.0)	1.15	0.47-2.81	0.76
Drugs
Nitrates	12 (37.5)	20 (62.5)	3.37	1.43-7.91	0.005
Ace	12 (27.3)	32 (72.7)	1.89	0.84-4.26	0.12
Calcium antagonists	16 (27.1)	43 (72.9)	2.08	0.96-4.50	0.06
Antithrombotics	20 (35.07)	36 (64.3)	4.36	1.97-9.66	< 0.001
Anticoagulants	4 (22.2)	14 (77.8)	1.22	0.37-3.99	0.74
Anticonvulsivants	3 (27.3)	8 (72.7)	1.63	0.41-6.49	0.49
Antidepressants	4 (22.2)	14 (77.8)	1.22	0.37-3.99	0.74
Cardiac glycoside	9 (39.1)	14 (60.9)	3.32	1.29-8.54	0.01
Diet
Vegetables ≥ 1 time/d	22 (19.3)	92 (80.7	1.00	0.45-2.24	1.00
Fruits ≥ 1 time/d	26 (18.1)	118 (81.9)	0.63	0.24-1.64	0.34
Brown ≥ 1 time/d	3 (25.0)	9 (75.0)	1.43	0.37-5.72	0.61
Liquid intakes ≥ 1500/d	2 (10.5)	17 (89.5)	0.46	0.10-2.09	0.31

Percentages are calculated referring to the total patients for considered variable. OR: Odds-ratio; CI: Confidence interval;

¹The OR for age refers to an increase of ten-year step.

²The OR for APECS refers to one point increase in the score. APECS: Adapted Patient Evaluation Conference System.

Table 3 Multivariate analysis

	AOR	95% CI
Hemiplegics vs orthopedics	3.28	1.18-9.09
Ischemic hemiplegics patients vs orthopedic patients	3.11	1.04-9.29
Hemorrhagic hemiplegics patients vs orthopedic patients	3.64	0.92-14.44
Use of antithrombotics	2.72	1.05-7.11
Use of nitrates	2.48	0.98-6.27
Use of cardiac glycosides	2.77	0.99-7.79

AOR: Adjusted OR.

Table 4 Patients referring de novo gastrointestinal smptoms after cerebrovascular accident or orthopedic trauma n (%)

Gastrointestinal	Hemiplegics	Orthopedics	OR	95% CI	P value
symptoms	n = 90	n = 81
Dysphagia	14 (15.5)	0 (0)	∞	3.36-∞	0.0001
Heartburn	2 (2.2)	0 (0)	∞	0.27-∞	0.51
Abdominal pain	6 (6.7)	2 (2.5)	2.82	0.48-29.22	0.28
Fecal incontinence	5 (5.5)	3 (3.7)	1.53	0.29-10.15	0.72