title: The bowel habits of adolescents in Nigeria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The implications of defaecation patterns to health are important. The abnormalities can be readily recognized and treated only if the normal pattern is known.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross sectional study involved 1115 adolescents enrolled using a stratified multi-stage random sampling technique. A self-administered and semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information on stool frequency, volume, colour and consistency. Data were compared between low and high across socioeconomic strata.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 481 males (overall mean age: 15.2 +/- 1.9 years). Participants were on mixed carbohydrate rich diet with both high and low fibre content.. Stool frequency was at least once daily in 77.3%, once in alternate days (17.4%) and once in >3days (5.3%). There was no association between stool frequency and gender (p=0.141) or age (p=0.345). More participants from the high (64.9%) than the low (35.1%) social classes opened their bowels once in >3days (p=0.048). More males produced larger stool volumes (>200ml) than females, (p=0.000). More than half (50.5%) of the participants reported passing brownish stool, 46.3% yellow stool and 3.2% greenish brown stool. Passage of soft stool was reported by 74.9% of the participants. Overall, 3.4% of participants had passed blood in their stool at some time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Majority of Nigerian adolescents passed 25-200 ml of soft stool atleast once daily and age and gender did not affect stool frequency. High socioeconomic status was associated with passage of hard stool and less frequent bowel opening. This data could facilitate early recognition of deviation from normal bowel habits in Nigerian adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Felix Olukayode
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Akinbami
authors.forename: James O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Okereke
authors.forename: Adebola Emmanuel
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Orimadegun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003672:Defecation; D005243:Feces; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria; D012016:Reference Values; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires