Constipation in nursing students and factors affecting

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the constipation problems of nursing students and the variables that affect it.Material and Methods: The research was conducted on the first, second, third and fourth year students of Batman University School of Nursing in 2018-2019 academic year. The sample of the study consisted of 218 nursing students who accepted to participate voluntarily. In the collection of data, a “Student Information Form” and the “Constipation Severity Scale” (CSS) were used.Results: The average age of the students included in the study was 21.14±2.34 (17-39 years), 55.5% of the students were female, 33% were in their senior year, 55% were living at home with their parents, 85.6% did not smoke, 93.6% had no chronic disease and 76.6% performed regular exercise. It was found that 56.9% of the students ate three times a day and 38.5% twice a day; 67.9% of the students consumed pulpy or fibrous foods occasionally; the daily average of water consumed by the students was 7.69±4.16 cups and 3.83±2.44 cups of coffee were consumed. The mean total CSS score of the students was 27.83±7.85 and the mean scores of the sub-scales were calculated as “Intestinal Obstruction”12.53±3.48, “Lazy Bowels” 11.56±3.84 and “Pain” 2.29±2.62. It was determined that there were differences between the variables of gender, exercise status, consumption of pulpy or fibrous foods and the daily consumption of tea or coffee and the mean score of CSS.Conclusion: It was observed that there were the incidence of constipation was not very high in nursing students and that this problem was experienced more by students who did not perform exercise, who consumed less pulpy or fibrous food, and who were female.

PDF

___

1. Büyükyılmaz F, Şendir M. Nursing care of bowel elimination problems in surgical patients. Maltepe University J Nurs Sci 2009;2:33-7.
2. Türkay C, Aydoğan T, Özden A. Definition and epidemiology of constipation. Current Gastroenterol J 2005;9:48-52.
3. Carpenito LJ. Handbook of nursing diagnoses. 7. Edition, Istanbul, Nobel Bookstore; 1997. p. 560.
4. Uz B, Türkay C, Bavbek N, et al. Evaluation of cases with constipation. Academic J Gastroenterol 2006;5:56-9.
5. Ayaz S, Hisar F. The effectiveness of education and counseling services for women in eliminating constipation. 14th National Public Health Congress, Trabzon, Turkey, 2011. p. 106.
6. Kaya H, Kaya N, Turan N, et al. Identifying constipation risk in neurosurgery patients. Pielegniarstwo Neurologiczne i Neurochirurgiczne 2013;2:96-103.
7. Papatheodoridis GV, Vlachogiannakos J, Karaitianos I, et al. A Greek survey of community prevalence and characteristics of constipation. Eur J Gastroen Hepat 2010;22:354-60.
8. Turan N, Aştı TA, Kaya N. Nursing care on patients with constipation in the neurosurgery intensive care unit. J Edu Res Nurs 2010;14:73-8.
9. Suares NC, Ford AC. Prevalence of, and risk factors for, chronic idiopathic constipation in the community: systematic review and meta-analysis. Am J Gastroenterol 2011;106:185-9.
10. McClurg D, Hagen S, Dickinson L. Abdominal massage for the treatment of constipation. Cochrane Database Systemat Rev 2011;13.
11. Salmoirago-Blotcher E, Crawford S, Jackson E, et al. Constipation and risk of cardiovascular disease among postmenopausal women. Am J Med 2011;124:714-23.
12. Turan N, Aştı TA. The importance of abdominal massage in management of constipation. J Anatol Nurs Health Sci 2015;18:148-54.
13. Uysal N, Khorshid L, Eşer İ. The identification of constipation problem in healthy young individuals. TAF Prev Med Bull 2010;9:127-32.
14. De Carvalho EB, Vitolo MR, Gama CM, et al. Fiber intake, constipation, and overweight among adolescents living in Sao Paulo City. Nutrition 2006;22:744-9.
15. Markland AD, Palsson O, Goode PS, et al. Association of low dietary intake of fiber and liquids with constipation: evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am J Gastroenterol 2013;108:796-803.
16. Arslan H, Hisar KM. Determination of the constipation status of the university students staying at girls’ dormitory. TAF Preventive Med Bulletin 2016;15:330-5.
17. Karatay G, Baş NG. Constipation prevalence among female students and its relationship with lifestyle habits. J Hacettepe University Faculty Nurs 2018;5:29-38.
18. Varma MG, Wang JY, Berian JR, et al. The constipation severity instrument: a validated measure. Dis Colon Rectum 2008;51:162-72.
19. Kaya N, Turan N. Reliability and validity of constipasyon severity scale. Turkiye Klinikleri J Med Sci 2011;31:1491-501.
20. Black JM, Hawks JH. Medical surgical nursing clinical management for positive outcomes. 8th ed. USA: Sauders Elsevier Company, 2009. p. 653-726.
21. Craven RF, Hirnle CJ. Fundamentals of nursing human health and function. 6th ed. China: Lippincott Williams&Wilkins; 2009. p. 1072-80.
22. Lim YJ, Rosita J, Chieng JY, et al. The prevalence and symptoms characteristic of functional constipation using Rome III diagnostic criteria among tertiary education students. Plos One 2016;1-14.
23. McCrea GL, Miaskowski C, Stotts NA, et al. A review of the literature on gender and age differences in the prevalence and characteristics of constipation in North America. J Pain Symptom Manage 2009;37:737-45.
24. Higgins PD, Johanson JF. Epidemiology of constipation in North America: a systematic review. Am J Gastroenterol 2004;99:750-9.
25. Özcan BA, Saka M. Evaluation of fiber, fluid and vitamin mineral intakes of adult individuals with functional constipation. Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics 2018;46:220-9.
26. Jun DW, Park HY, Lee OY, et al. A population-based study on bowel habits in a Korean Community: prevalence of functional constipation and self-reported constipation. Dig Dis Sci 2006;51:1471-7.
27. Ribas Y, Saldana E, Martí-Ragué J, et al. Prevalence and pathophysiology of functional constipation among women in Catalonia, Spain. Dis Colon Rectum 2011;54:1560-9.
28. Kaya H. Bowel elimination. In: Aştı TA, Karadağ A. ed. Fundamentals of Nursing- Nursing Science and Art. Istanbul: Akademi Press and Publishing, 2012. p. 941-69.
29. Dukas L, Willett WC, Giovannucci EL. Association between physical activity, fiber intake, and other lifestyle variables and constipation in a study of women. Am J of Gastroenterol 2003;98:1790-6.
30. Bosaeus I. Fibre effects on intestinal functions (diarrhoes, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome). Clin Nutr Suppl 2004;1:33-8.
31. Lembo A, Camilleri M. Chronic constipation. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1360-8.
32. Folden SL. Practice guidelines for the management of constipation in adults. Rehabil Nurs 2002;27:169-75.
33. Lindeman RD, Romeo LJ, Lian HC, et al. Do elderly persons need to be encouraged to drink more fluids? J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2000;55:361-5.
34. Sandler RS, Jordan MC, Shelton BJ. Demographic and dietary determinants of constipation in the US population. Am J Public Health 1990;80:185-9.