Epidemiological study: Correlation between diet habits and constipation among elderly in Beijing region

Table 1 Age, region (rural, urban) and gender in relation with constipation

Items	Cases	Prevalence	Constipation	χ2
Gender
Male	1213	158	13.0	0.981
Female	1563	224	14.3
Region
Urban	1512	216	14.3	0.771
Rural	1264	166	13.1
Agea
60-65	510	41	8.0	41.338
65-70	485	54	11.1
70-75	551	62	11.3
75-80	607	114	18.8
> 80	623	111	17.8
Total	2776

^aP < 0.001.

Table 2 Correlation between daily staple food intakes and constipation

Staple food Intake	Cases	Constipation	Prevalencea
≤ 150 g	351	41	11.7%
200-300 g	1368	129	9.4%
350-450 g	530	47	8.9%
≥ 500 g	237	10	4.2%
Total	2486	227	9.1%

χ² = 9.833;

^aP < 0.05.

Table 3 Correlation between fish, egg eating and constipation

Items	Cases	Constipation	Prevalence	χ2
Egg eater	2632	359	13.6%	0.742
Rarely eat	142	23	16.2%
Fish eater	2257	292	12.9%b	7.080
Rarely eat	517	90	17.4%b
Total	2774

^bP < 0.01.

Table 4 Correlation between fruits and vegetables consumption and constipation

Items	Cases	Constipation	Prevalencea	χ2
Vegetables
Frequent	2431	218	9.0%	3.546
Rare	55	9	16.4%
Fruits
Frequent	1783	150	8.4%	3.921
Rare	703	77	11.0%
Total	2486

^aP < 0.05.