Research Article
Bowel Habit Pattern and Perception about Bowel Habit Pattern of Medical Students
Irin Perveen1*, Rukhsana Parvin2, Madhusudan Saha3, Md. Shafiqul Bari4, Md. Saif Uddoula5 and Mridul Kanti Ghosh6
1Department of Gastroenterology, Enam Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2Department of Medicine, Enam Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh
3Department of Gastroenterology, North East Medical College, Sylhet, Bangladesh
4Department of Medicine, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, Sylhet, Bangladesh
5Department of Gastroenterology, Mymensingh Medical College, Mymensingh, Bangladesh
6U Chicago Research, Bangladesh
- *Corresponding Author:
- Irin Perveen
Associate Professor of Gastroenterology
Enam Medical College, B-11, Tropical kader Garden
335 Tongi Diversion Road, Bara Magh Bazar
Dhaka-1217, Bangladesh
Tel: +8801552365100
Fax: +88-02-7743777
E-mail: irinperveen@yahoo.com
Received date: Mar 30, 2016; Accepted date: May 2, 2016; Published date: May 12, 2016
Citation: Perveen I, Parvin R, Saha M, Bari MS, Uddoula MS, et al. (2016) Bowel Habit Pattern and Perception about Bowel Habit Pattern of Medical Students. J Gastrointest Dig Sys 6: 427. doi:10.4172/2161-069X.1000427
Copyright: © 2016 Perveen I, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Objectives: This study aimed at evaluating the bowel habit pattern of medical students along with their perception regarding their bowel habit. Materials and methods: In this observational study normal bowel habit was defined by both Western criteria (Rome III) and Asian diagnostic criteria. Results: Out of 249 (M = 155) students, 139 (55.8%) had predominantly Bristol type T4 stools, 51 (20.5%) had T3 stools, 18 (7.2%) had T5 stools, 23 (9.2%) had T 6/T7 stools and19 (7.6%) had T1/T2 stools. Weekly mean stool frequency was 9.09 ± 4.058(Male 9.6 vs. female 8.2, P = 0.016), with a range of 3- 28 motions/week. According to Western criteria 156 (62.65%, M = 101) had normal bowel habit, while by Asian criteria the figure was 109(43.8%). Predominant stool form in Western normal bowel habit group was T4 (n = 109, 69.9%); 34 (21.8%) had T3 stools. Mean stool frequency of normal bowel habit group (8.66/week) was different from constipation group (6.0/week, P = 0.004) but not from diarrhea group (9.38/week, P = 0.540). A total of 189 (75.9%) students perceived their bowel habit as normal, 17 as constipation, 2 as diarrhea and 12 as alternating diarrhea and constipation. Out of 156 students with normal bowel habit, 134 (85.9%) perceived their bowel habit as normal. A moderate agreement (K = 0.603, P < 0.0005) was found between western criteria and Asian criteria. Agreement between western normal bowel habit and students’ perception was poor (K = 0.61, P < 0.0005). Conclusion: Mean stool frequency of medical students was lower than some Asian countries but the predominant stool from was like most other countries. A wide mismatch was apparent between students’ perception of their bowel habit and Western criteria.
