Clinical—Alimentary TractFecal Incontinence in US Adults: Epidemiology and Risk Factors
Section snippets
Subjects and Methods
The NHANES program consists of annual cross-sectional, national health surveys conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Demographic, socioeconomic, and health interview data are collected in the home followed by physical examinations, interviews, and laboratory assessments in mobile examination centers. Questions on topics considered to be sensitive for the participant, such as FI, are administered by an interviewer in a private room in
Results
The household interview was completed by 4773 (71.0%) of the 6719 adults aged 20 years and older who were selected to participate in the NHANES 2005–2006. Of these, 465 (9.7%) did not complete the mobile examination center health examination components, which included the bowel health questionnaire; however, no subjects declined to complete only the questions on FI. The 2079 men and 2229 women who completed the bowel health questionnaire provided the data for this study. The demographics of the
Discussion
Efforts to develop prevention and treatment strategies for FI have been hampered by lack of reliable information on its prevalence and characteristics.15 This study of a nationally representative sample of US adults shows that FI at least once in the past month is very common, affecting 8.3% of noninstitutionalized adults. FI occurs at least weekly in 2.7% (95% CI, 2.1–3.2) of the population and is a daily occurrence in 0.9%. The most common type of FI consists of the loss of liquid stools,
Acknowledgments
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Conflicts of interest The authors disclose no conflicts.
Funding Supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U01 HD41249, U10 HD41248, U10 HD41250, U10 HD41261, U10 HD41263, U10 HD41267, U10 HD41268, and U10 HD41269), the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women's Health. The International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders assisted in arranging financial support for the study.