Drugs and Constipation in Elderly in Nursing Homes: What Is the Relation?
Table 2
Use of drugs by the participants and comparisons between participants with and without constipation. The results are given as proportion (%) if not otherwise indicated.
Drugs
All participants
Participants with constipation
Participants without constipation
Statistics value
Use of drugs
98.5
98.4
98.7
1.00
Number of drugs (median with range)
6 (0–20)
6 (0–20)
6 (0–19)
0.90
Drugs with markedly anticholinergic effect
6.4
7.9
2.6
0.17
Laxatives regularly only
61.0
85.3
01
—
Laxatives on demand only
5.2
0
18.4
—
Laxatives regularly and on demand
68.9
96.3
01
—
Contact laxatives (A06AB)
28.5
39.8
01
—
Osmotically acting laxatives (A06AD)
52.1
72.8
01
—
Enemas (A06AG)
4.9
6.8
01
—
Proton pump inhibitors (A02BC)
14.2
15.7
10.5
0.15
Insulin and analogues (A10A)
3.7
2.6
6.6
0.15
Potassium (A12BA)
7.9
7.9
7.9
1.00
Platelet aggregation inhibitors (B01AC)
39.7
41.4
35.5
0.41
Bivalent oral iron (B03AA)
13.9
14.7
11.8
0.70
Vitamin B12 (B03BA)
12.4
9.4
19.7
0.04
Organic nitrates (C01DA)
8.2
6.8
11.8
0.22
Sulphonamides, plain (diuretics) (C03CA)
36.0
37.2
32.9
0.57
Beta blocking agents, selective (C07AB)
17.2
15.2
22.4
0.21
Dihydropyridine derivatives (C08CA)
6.7
7.9
3.9
0.29
Angiotensin II antagonists 2 (C09CA_DA)
4.9
3.7
7.9
0.20
HMD-CoA reductase inhibitors (C10AA)
12.7
11.5
15.8
0.42
Thyroid hormones (H03AA)
9.7
6.8
17.1
0.02
Antibacterials—systemic use (J01)
15.0
14.1
17.1
0.57
Propionic acid derivatives (M01AE)
4.9
6.3
1.3
0.12
Bisphosphonates (M05BA)
6.4
6.8
5.3
0.79
Natural opium alkaloids (N02AA)
6.7
8.4
2.6
0.11
Phenylpiperidine derivatives (N02AB)
4.9
6.3
1.3
0.11
Other antiepileptics (N03AX)
4.1
4.7
2.6
0.73
Benzodiazepine derivatives (N05BA)
19.5
22.5
11.8
0.06
Benzodiazepine related drugs (N05CF)
29.2
30.9
25.0
0.37
SSRI 3 (N06AB)
31.5
30.4
34.2
0.56
Other antidepressants (N06AX)
15.7
18.8
7.9
0.03
Anticholinesterases (N06DA)
6.7
4.7
11.8
0.06
Phenothiazine derivatives (R06AD)
5.2
5.2
5.3
1.00
1 Use of laxatives regularly is included in the definition of constipation. 2 Both plain and in combination with diuretics. 3Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
