Participant demographics and clinical characteristics by bowel pattern group
| Data show % and 95% CI (CI) except where specified | Normal (N=11 068) | Constipation (N=1322) | Diarrhoea (N=1023) | |||
| % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | |
| Age, years (mean) | 46.7 | 45.9 to 47.4 | 44.4 | 43.4 to 45.4 | 50.5 | 49.2 to 51.9 |
| Women | 48.2 | 47.2 to 49.1 | 74.6 | 71.7 to 77.6 | 56.2 | 52.3 to 60.1 |
| BMI, kg/m2 (mean) | 28.6 | 28.4 to 28.9 | 27.8 | 27.3 to 28.3 | 30.3 | 29.7 to 30.9 |
| BMI class | ||||||
| Underweight or normal weight | 31.2 | 29.6 to 32.8 | 38.3 | 34.6 to 42.1 | 25.6 | 21.7 to 29.4 |
| Overweight | 34.2 | 33.0 to 35.5 | 32.5 | 29.5 to 35.5 | 31.1 | 27.6 to 34.7 |
| Class I obesity | 20.2 | 19.2 to 21.2 | 15.5 | 13.3 to 17.7 | 19.8 | 16.2 to 23.5 |
| Class II obesity | 8.7 | 7.9 to 9.4 | 8.3 | 6.0 to 10.6 | 13.5 | 11.0 to 15.9 |
| Class III obesity | 5.7 | 5.2 to 6.3 | 5.4 | 4.0 to 6.7 | 10.0 | 7.1 to 12.9 |
| Race | ||||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 72.5 | 69.1 to 75.9 | 64.4 | 58.4 to 70.3 | 67.2 | 60.8 to 73.6 |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 9.7 | (8.0 to 11.4) | 16.3 | 12.5 to 20.2 | 11.7 | 9.2 to 14.2 |
| Hispanic | 12.3 | 10.0 to 14.7 | 14.6 | 11.1 to 18.1 | 15.6 | 11.3 to 19.8 |
| Other | 5.5 | 4.6 to 6.3 | 4.7 | 2.7 to 6.7 | 5.5 | 3.5 to 7.6 |
| Marital status | ||||||
| Married, living with partner | 66.1 | 64.3 to 67.9 | 60.3 | 56.7 to 64.0 | 65.4 | 61.7 to 69.1 |
| Widowed/divorced /separated | 17.5 | 16.6 to 18.5 | 20.7 | 18.0 to 23.4 | 22.1 | 19.3 to 24.9 |
| Never married | 16.3 | 15.0 to 17.7 | 19.0 | 16.1 to 21.8 | 12.5 | 9.8 to 15.2 |
| Education | ||||||
| Less than high school | 16.9 | 15.2 to 18.5 | 23.1 | 19.8 to 26.4 | 27.1 | 23.4 to 30.9 |
| High school or GED | 23.5 | 22.2 to 24.8 | 28.7 | 26.0 to 31.4 | 24.3 | 20.2 to 28.3 |
| More than high school | 59.6 | 57.3 to 61.9 | 48.2 | 44.0 to 52.5 | 48.6 | 43.8 to 53.4 |
| Smoking | ||||||
| Never | 52.6 | 50.8 to 54.4 | 59.3 | 55.3 to 63.2 | 45.7 | 41.4 to 49.9 |
| Past smoker | 25.4 | 24.1 to 26.8 | 19.0 | 16.4 to 21.5 | 28.0 | 24.5 to 31.6 |
| Current smoker | 22.0 | 20.6 to 23.4 | 21.8 | 18.2 to 25.3 | 26.3 | 22.5 to 30.0 |
| Alcohol | ||||||
| Lifetime abstainer | 10.2 | 9.0 to 11.3 | 16.1 | 13.3 to 19.0 | 12.0 | 9.5 to 14.5 |
| Former drinker | 15.7 | 14.4 to 17.0 | 17.7 | 15.2 to 20.3 | 21.6 | 16.8 to 26.5 |
| Moderate | 41.8 | 40.1 to 43.4 | 43.1 | 39.9 to 46.4 | 37.2 | 33.6 to 40.7 |
| Excessive | 32.4 | 30.7 to 34.0 | 23.0 | 20.3 to 25.7 | 29.2 | 24.8 to 33.6 |
| Metabolic syndrome | 29.9 | 28.7 to 31.2 | 26.1 | 22.4 to 29.8 | 36.0 | 31.5 to 40.6 |
| Cardiovascular disease* | 7.7 | 6.9 to 8.4 | 7.9 | 6.1 to 9.7 | 11.5 | 8.6 to 14.3 |
| Diabetes | 9.7 | 8.9 to 10.5 | 9.2 | 7.3 to 11.2 | 15.7 | 12.9 to 18.5 |
| NAFLD† | 9.5 | 8.7 to 10.4 | 9.0 | 7.0 to 11.0 | 12.9 | 9.8 to 15.9 |
| Sleep disorder | 7.3 | 6.7 to 7.9 | 5.9 | 4.3 to 7.4 | 11.4 | 8.7 to 14.2 |
| Cancer‡ | 8.7 | 7.8 to 9.6 | 9.6 | 7.5 to 11.7 | 12.4 | 9.9 to 15.0 |
Comparisons performed using analysis of variance for continuous variables and Rao-Scott χ2 test for categorical variables.
*P value=0.002.
†P value=0.035.
‡P value=0.005; all other p values <0.001.
BMI, body mass index; GED, general educational development; NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.