A COMPARISON OF STOOL CHARACTERISTICS FROM NORMAL AND CONSTIPATED PEOPLE

In people with constipation, it is not known if decreased frequency of defecation is associated with abnormalities in the weight or in the c onsistency of stools or if the weight or the consistency of stools cor relates with the severity of various discomforts associated with bowel movements. In neither normal nor constipated subjects has the consist ency of stools been carefully correlated with their relative contents of water and solids. Our aim was to gain insight into these questions. Twenty subjects with idiopathic chronic constipation and 20 age-and s ex-matched control subjects were recruited by advertisement. Stools we re collected for one week. After each bowel movement, the subject's pe rception of various discomforts associated with the bowel movement wer e recorded. The stools were then analyzed. The results and conclusions were as follows: (1) Stool weight per bowel movement was similar in t he two groups but stool weight per week was markedly reduced in consti pated subjects. (2) Reduced stool weight per week in constipated subje cts was due to a nearly proportional reduction in stool water and stoo l solids output. (3) Using data from both groups, there was a curvilin ear correlation between percent insoluble stool solids and stool hardn ess, as measured by a texture analyzer; hardness increased only slight ly as percent insoluble solids increased between 7 and 20%, but hardne ss increased dramatically when percent insoluble solids exceeded 25%. (4) Only 6% of stools from constipated subjects (2 of 34) had abnormal ly high values for percent stool solids and physical hardness. (5) In subjects with constipation, the severity of various discomforts associ ated with bowel movements (such as straining) correlated poorly with t he weight or the hardness of stool that was produced by the bowel move ment.