[Assessment of psychological status and quality of life in patients with functional constipation]

To investigate the states of psychological condition and the quality of life in patients with functional constipation (FC) by comparing with those of healthy controls.

Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) and Patient Assessment Constipation-Quality of Life (PAC-QOL) were tested by self-report questionnaire in sixty patients with FC and thirty healthy controls with corresponding age and gender.

(1) There was no difference in age, body mass index and sex ratio between the FC patients and healthy controls, but the scores of stool form and frequency of defecation were significantly different between the two groups. (2) The following items of SCL-90 i. e. total scores, total symptomatic index, the number of positive items and positive symptom distress level were obviously higher in the FC patients than in controls (P <0.05). The scores of the nine factors of SCL-90 except terror were also higher in the FC patients than in controls. (3) The average total score and scores of four sections (physical discomfort, psychological discomfort, anxiety, satisfaction) of PAC-QOL in FC patients were higher than those in basal level. (4) The average score of PAC-QOL was significantly correlated with the scores of SCL-90, especially in anxiety and depression. (5) The severity of symptoms in the FC patients was significantly correlated with the average score of PAC-QOL and the total score of SCL-90.

FC patients have obviously psychological abnormality, which affects the quality of life significantly. The scores of quality of life is a better parameter to reflect the healthy status of the FC patients than the laboratory tests and the clinical symptoms.