Introduction: Literature about prevalence of constipation is scarce in Latin American countries1. Aims: To estimate the prevalence of self-reported constipation and factors associated to this occurrence in adults in the urban population of a Southern city in Brazil. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a cross-sectional, descriptive, exploratory and epidemiological population-based study about bowel habits of a Brazilian urban population, in 20082. After approval by the Ethics Committee, 2162 individuals residing in the selected Londrina´s streets and who met the inclusion criteria were interviewed using two instruments: demographic data and the Brazilian version of The Bowel Function in the Community tool3. In the present study, self-reported constipation and associated factors were retrieved from the database of the original study and analyzed through univariate and multivariate logistic regression. All individuals who replied to the question number 14 of the “Bowel Function in the Community” tool were included in the present study sample. The prevalence of constipation was estimated with a 95% confidence interval. Results: 546 people reported constipation showing an overall prevalence of 25.2% (CI 95 %: 23.4-27.1), higher among women (37.2%) compared to men (10.2%). The factors that presented stastiscally significant association to the constipated sample were: female gender, higher age, ethnicity, fistula, anal fissure, hemorrhoids, anus-rectal surgery, trauma or wound around the anus, nervous system disease and stroke. Conclusion: International literature4,5 shows lower prevalence rates compared to the study´s results. On the other hand, the present study shows some associated variables which have not been often analyzed in other population-based studies about constipation. Other studies are recommended to verify the statistical associations between constipation and clinical variables as obtained in the present study.
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