Introduction:

chronic constipation is a functional gastrointestinal disorder with a considerable prevalence about which there are erroneous beliefs and perceptions.

Objective:

to establish the beliefs and perceptions of patients with chronic constipation about its etiology, its complications and the efficacy of general measures.

Methods:

a cross-sectional, observational and descriptive study was conducted in a universe of 49 patients with a diagnosis of chronic constipation at the “Felix Lugones Ramirez” General Hospital between 2020 and 2022. The variables age, sex, improvement with treatment, beliefs and perceptions were measured.

Results:

patients diagnosed with chronic constipation were mostly female (57.14%), with a mean age of 60.73 years, and 75.51% of patients experienced improvement with treatment. Constipation as a cause of colon cancer (46 patients) and hemorrhoids (41 patients) were the most prevalent beliefs and perceptions, while it is caused by not going to the bathroom every day (eight patients) were the least recognized belief and perception (or both).

Conclusions:

chronic constipation is a functional gastrointestinal disorder subject to multiple popular beliefs and perceptions that are not scientifically supported and that is widely related to the occurrence of hemorrhoids and colorectal cancer fundamentally.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )