Incidence of ‘new-onset’ constipation and associated factors during lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: BMJ open gastroenterology Vol. 8; no. 1; p. e000729
• Main Authors: Remes-Troche, Jose Maria, Coss-Adame, Enrique, Amieva-Balmori, Mercedes, Velarde-Ruiz Velasco, José Antonio, Gómez-Castaños, Paulo César, Flores-Rendón, Ricardo, Gómez-Escudero, Octavio, Rodríguez-Leal, María Celina, Durán-Rosas, Cristina, Pinto-Gálvez, Samanta Mayanin, Priego-Parra, Bryan Adrián, Triana-Romero, Arturo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01.09.2021; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Communicable Disease Control; Constipation; Constipation - epidemiology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; dietary fibre; Exercise; Female; Humans; Incidence; Irritable bowel syndrome; Lifestyles; Motility; Pandemics; Population; Quality of Life; Questionnaires; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Social networks; Mexico; COVID-19; constipation; dietary fibre
• ISSN: 2054-4774; 2054-4774
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjgast-2021-000729

ObjectiveA minimum of physical activity and low liquid intake are factors that have been associated with constipation. The health emergency brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in adopting behaviour, such as sheltering-in-place (less mobility) and dietary changes, creating a scenario we believe to be an adequate model for examining the appearance of symptoms of constipation and its associated factors.DesignA cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted on an open population, applying an electronic survey (4 weeks after lockdown due to COVID-19 in Mexico) to evaluate demographic characteristics, physical activity, water and fibre intake, appearance of constipation symptoms (including stool consistency), and quality of life.ResultsOut of 678 subjects evaluated, 170 (25%, 95% CI: 21.7 to 28.4) developed symptoms of ‘new-onset’ constipation, with a significant decrease in the number of daily bowel movements (p<0.05) and stool consistency (p<0.05) during lockdown. Furthermore, in the ‘new-onset’ constipation population there was a higher proportion of subjects (79 (47%) of 170) who stopped exercising during the pandemic compared with the subjects who did not develop constipation symptoms (187 (37%) of 508, p=0.03, OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.0 to 2.1). The multivariate analysis (logistic regression) showed that female sex (p=0.001), water intake (p=0.039), and physical activity (p=0.012) were associated with ‘new-onset’ constipation.ConclusionsIn our study on an open population in Mexico, we found that one-fourth of the population developed ‘new-onset’ constipation symptoms during the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A reduction of physical activity and less water consumption were associated factors.