A cross-sectional analysis of the health-related quality of life and work productivity in Japanese subjects with self-reported chronic constipation using the National Health and Wellness Survey 2017

<p>Background : Chronic constipation (CC) is associated with lower health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and work productivity in Western countries;however, limited data in Japanese subjects are available. Methods : This retrospective, cross-sectional analysis used the data from the National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS), a web-based questionnaire survey conducted in 2017 for the Japanese general population. Subjects were allocated to the self-reported CC group when they answered "yes" to the question "Did you have chronic constipation in the past 12 months?". Other subjects were allocated to the non-CC group. Self-reported CC population was sub-categorized as per the abdominal symptoms. The HR-QoL was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey version 2 using the Mental Component Summary (MCS), Physical Component Summary (PCS), and Role/Social Component Summary (RCS) scores (3-component method). Work productivity was assessed using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment:General Health version 2.0 for absenteeism, presenteeism, work productivity loss, and activity impairment. Results : Of the 30001 respondents, 3373 had self-reported CC (895 with abdominal symptoms, 2478 without abdominal symptoms) and 26628 did not report CC. The differences in the summary scores [95% confidence interval (CI) ] adjusted for potential confounders between self-reported CC and non-CC (self-reported CC − non-CC) were −1.60 (−1.98, −1.22) in MCS, −0.78 (−1.19, −0.37) in PCS, and −2.09 (−2.57, −1.61) in RCS;the differences in the adjusted summary scores (95% CI) between self-reported CC with and without abdominal symptoms (self-reported CC with abdominal symptoms − without abdominal symptoms) were −0.95 (−1.77, −0.14) in MCS, −1.67 (−2.66, −0.68) in PCS, and −2.05 (−3.55, −0.55) in RCS. All the summary scores were lower in those with self-reported CC and abdominal symptoms than in those with self-reported CC without abdominal symptoms;all the adjusted differences between the summary scores were statistically significant. The adjusted risk ratio (95% CI) of each outcome of self-reported CC relative to non-CC was 1.34 (1.04, 1.73) in absenteeism, 1.21 (1.12, 1.31) in presenteeism, 1.20 (1.11, 1.29) in work productivity loss, and 1.21 (1.15, 1.27) in activity impairment. In terms of statistics, the risk of decreased work productivity for all the outcomes was significantly higher in those with than in those without self-reported CC, indicating decreased work productivity in those with self-reported CC. Conclusion : HR-QoL and work productivity were lower in those with self-reported CC than in those who did not report CC, suggesting that CC negatively affects the HR-QoL and work productivity.</p>