Altered bowel elimination patterns among hospitalized elderly and middle-aged persons: quantitative results

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Gastroenterology
• Hospital Medicine

Background:

• Bowel elimination patterns (BEP) changes in hospitalized elders are not well understood.
• Acute care settings may impact physiological functions like BEP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare changes in BEP between elderly and middle-aged patients during acute care hospitalization.
• To identify factors influencing BEP changes in these patient groups.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory study comparing 154 elderly and 149 middle-aged subjects.
• Data collected via interviews, diaries, questionnaires, chart reviews, and validated scales (Nagley VAS, Katz Index).
• Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, t-tests, and multiple regression.

Main Results:

• Both elderly and middle-aged groups showed significant BEP changes during hospitalization, with no difference in the degree of change between groups.
• Multiple regression revealed that activity and diet significantly influenced BEP changes in elderly subjects (R2 = .13, p < .01), controlling for other factors.
• No significant association was found for middle-aged subjects.

Conclusions:

• Activity and diet play a more significant role in altering bowel elimination patterns for elderly patients in acute care compared to middle-aged patients.
• Hospitalization impacts BEP in both age groups, but influencing factors differ.
• Further research into optimizing diet and activity interventions for elderly inpatients is warranted.