Medicina comunitaria y educación para la salud

Abstracto

Intestinal Functional among Adolescents in Brazil

Del Ciampo LA, Lopes Del Ciampo

This paper aimed at determining the characteristics of bowel movements among adolescents. A cross-sectional study with all teenagers attended in a Primary Health Care Unit included 215 adolescents. According to the Rome III criteria 11.6% of the adolescents (52% males; 48% females) were considered constipated and 16.2% presented some alterations of intestinal function. Twenty-two (10.2%) reported elimination of dry/fragmented feces and 6.0% increased stool volume. Regarding the perception of bowel movements 39.5% reported a delay in starting evacuation. This result reinforces the importance of to identify the changes in bowel habits to promote interventions for the prevention of intestinal constipation.