title: Prevalence and risk of developing comorbid conditions in patients with chronic constipation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI comorbidities and the risk of incident comorbidities among patients with and without chronic constipation (CC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Adults with CC were identified from a large retrospective US claims database. Each CC patient was matched 1:3 to CC-free patients by birth year, sex, and region of residence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prevalence of GI and non-GI comorbidities was measured over a 1-year period. Relative risk of new comorbidities was also estimated among patients who were free of the studied comorbidity prior to the index date.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 61.9 years; 33.3% of patients were male. The 1-year prevalence of GI comorbidities was significantly higher in CC (N = 28,854) vs. CC-free (N = 86,562) patients (all p < 0.05). The risk of developing new GI conditions was also significantly higher in CC patients for all studied conditions except ulcerative colitis: megacolon (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] HR [CI] = 11.96 [8.16-17.53]), intestinal impaction (10.56 [9.22-12.10]), volvulus (7.12 [5.42-9.35]), other specified functional intestinal disorders (6.67 [5.57-8.00]), and other unspecified functional disorders of intestine (4.60 [3.61-5.87]). Similarly, 1-year prevalence of non-GI comorbidities was higher in CC patients, as was the risk of developing new conditions: depression and mood disorder (HR [CI] = 1.84 [1.77-1.90]), neurological disorders (1.68 [1.62-1.74]), iron deficiency anemia (1.52 [1.47-1.57]), hypothyroidism (1.40 [1.34-1.46]), and peripheral vascular disorders (1.40 [1.34-1.46]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An algorithm was used to define CC as there is no specific diagnosis code to identify CC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CC patients had significantly higher prevalence and were at increased risk of developing new GI and non-GI comorbidities than age-, gender- and region-matched CC-free patients. Future research is warranted to better understand these associations.
authors.affiliation: Takeda Pharmaceuticals International Inc. , Deerfield, IL , USA.
authors.forename: Reema
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mody
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guérin
authors.forename: Beverly
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fok
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Lasch
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Eric Q
authors.initials: EQ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Nicholas J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Talley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003248:Constipation / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chronic constipation; Comorbidities; Prevalence