Editing Constipation (section)

==Epidemiology==
Constipation is the most common chronic gastrointestinal disorder in adults. Depending on the definition employed, it occurs in 2% to 20% of the population.<ref name=AGA2000>{{cite journal |vauthors=Locke GR, Pemberton JH, Phillips SF | title = American Gastroenterological Association Medical Position Statement: guidelines on constipation | journal = Gastroenterology | volume = 119 | issue = 6 | pages = 1761–6 | date = December 2000 | pmid = 11113098 | doi = 10.1053/gast.2000.20390 }}</ref><ref name=Epi89>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sonnenberg A, Koch TR | title = Epidemiology of constipation in the United States | journal = Dis Colon Rectum | volume = 32 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–8 | year = 1989 | pmid = 2910654 | doi = 10.1007/BF02554713 | s2cid = 3161661 }}</ref> It is more common in women, the elderly and children.<ref name=Epi89/> Specifically constipation with no known cause affects females more often affected than males.<ref name="chang">{{cite journal |vauthors=Chang L, Toner BB, Fukudo S, Guthrie E, Locke GR, Norton NJ, Sperber AD | s2cid = 8876455 | title = Gender, age, society, culture, and the patient's perspective in the functional gastrointestinal disorders | journal = Gastroenterology | volume = 130 | issue = 5 | pages = 1435–46 | year = 2006 | pmid = 16678557 | doi = 10.1053/j.gastro.2005.09.071 | doi-access = free }}</ref> The reasons it occurs more frequently in the elderly is felt to be due to an increasing number of health problems as humans age and decreased physical activity.<ref name=AFP05>{{cite journal | author = Hsieh C | title = Treatment of constipation in older adults | journal = Am Fam Physician | volume = 72 | issue = 11 | pages = 2277–84 | date = December 2005 | pmid = 16342852 | url = http://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/1201/p2277.html | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120410083631/http://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/1201/p2277.html | archive-date = 10 April 2012 }}</ref>
* 12% of the population worldwide reports having constipation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wald|first1=A.|last2=Scarpignato|first2=C.|last3=Mueller-Lissner|first3=S.|last4=Kamm|first4=M. A.|last5=Hinkel|first5=U.|last6=Helfrich|first6=I.|last7=Schuijt|first7=C.|last8=Mandel|first8=K. G.|date=2008-10-01|title=A multinational survey of prevalence and patterns of laxative use among adults with self-defined constipation|journal=Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics|language=en|volume=28|issue=7|pages=917–930|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2036.2008.03806.x|pmid=18644012|s2cid=33659161|issn=1365-2036|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* Chronic constipation accounts for 3% of all visits annually to pediatric outpatient clinics.<ref name=walia/>
* Constipation-related health care costs total $6.9 billion in the US annually.<ref name=AGA2000/>
* More than four million Americans have frequent constipation, accounting for 2.5 million physician visits a year.<ref name=niddk/>
* Around $725 million is spent on laxative products each year in America.<ref name=niddk/>