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Background: It is unclear whether questionnaires and diary cards, which are widely used to collect data on bowel habits, provide analogous information., Aims: We verified the concordance between the data provided by a daily diary and a retrospective questionnaire., Methods: A 4-week diary (DIARY) concerning bowel habits was compiled by 221 subjects. They were also asked to fill out a questionnaire on their bowel habits before (BEF) and after (AFT) the diary period., Results: Concerning bowel movements, no significant difference was detected in the concordance between BEF and DIARY (rho: 0.80), AFT and DIARY (rho: 0.84), or BEF and AFT (rho: 0.84). The mean concordance in the other defecation-related parameters between BEF and DIARY (K: 0.62) and between DIARY and AFT (K: 0.63) were both significantly lower than that seen between BEF and AFT (K: 0.80; p<0.01)., Conclusion: A considerable discrepancy between the two methods of assessment was found. The higher concordance between BEF and AFT than between DIARY and AFT regarding defecation-related parameters suggests that when a subject recalls events, even those from the recent past, he/she tends to generalize, reporting more or less the same data for different periods of time. These two instruments cannot be viewed as interchangeable, and their inherent differences must be taken into account when deciding which one to employ in different settings., (Copyright (c) 2009 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Available information on normal bowel habits was mainly gathered by means of telephone interviews or mailed questionnaires., Aims: We undertook a prospective study to evaluate the defecatory habits in subjects perceiving themselves as normal concerning this function., Subjects and Methods: A questionnaire (4-week diary with "yes-no" daily answers to six questions concerning bowel habits) was distributed to 204 subjects perceiving their defecation behaviour as normal., Results: The completed questionnaire was returned by 140 subjects. No significant differences were found between sexes or age groups for any variable, even though straining at stool and feeling of incomplete and/or difficult evacuation showed a trend to increase with age. No subject had less than three bowel movements per week or more than three per day. The percentage of symptoms linked to an abnormal defecatory behaviour was well below 10%. Fifty-five percent of subjects reported at least one parameter of abnormal functioning; the most frequent was straining at stool and the rarer was the manual manoeuvres to help defecation., Conclusions: In normal subjects the prevalence of symptoms considered in Rome II criteria as part of an abnormal defecatory behaviour (in more than 25% of defecations) is well below 10%, manual manoeuvres are almost never used to help defecation, and the frequency of defecations is at least three per week.

Aim: Bowel habits are difficult to study, and most data on defecatory behaviour in the general population have been obtained on the basis of recalled interview. The objective assessment of this physiological function and its pathological aspects continues to pose a difficult challenge. The aim of this prospective study was to objectively assess the bowel habits and related aspects in a large sample drawn from the general population., Methods: Over a two-month period 488 subjects were prospectively recruited from the general population and asked to compile a daily diary on their bowel habits and associated signs and symptoms (the latter according to Rome II criteria). A total of 298 (61%) participants returned a correctly compiled record, so that data for more than 8 000 patient-days were available for statistical analysis., Results: The average defecatory frequency was once per day (range of 0.25-3.25) and was similar between males and females. However, higher frequencies of straining at stool (P=0.001), a feeling of incomplete emptying and/or difficult evacuation (P=0.0001), and manual manoeuvres to facilitate defecation (P=0.046) were reported by females as compared to males., Conclusion: This study represents one of the first attempts to objectively and prospectively assess bowel habits in a sample of the general population over a relatively long period of time. The variables we analyzed are coherent with the criteria commonly used for the clinical assessment of functional constipation, and can provide a useful adjunct for a better evaluation of constipated patients.