Hongzhi Sun
1,2
Lei Qi
1,2*The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Gastroenterology
Volume 12 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1516210
This article is part of the Research Topic New insights into the management of chronic idiopathic constipation: from physiopathology to novel therapeutic strategies View all articles
Life's Simple 7 and Its Impact on Chronic Bowel Disorders: A Study on Constipation and Diarrhea in the U.S. Adult Population
Provisionally accepted- 1 Third People's Hospital of Hefei, Hefei, China
- 2 Hefei Third Clinical College of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
- 3 Anhui No 2 Provincial People's Hospital, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
Background: Chronic gastrointestinal disorders, such as chronic constipation and diarrhea, pose significant public health challenges, affecting quality of life and healthcare costs. Life's Simple 7 (LS7), established by the American Heart Association, encompasses essential health behaviors that may influence bowel health. Methods: We utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted between 2005 and 2010, focusing on adults aged 20 years and older. A total of 12,912 participants were included in the analysis. Bowel health was assessed through self-reported questionnaires, while LS7 was evaluated based on seven components: smoking status, physical activity, dietary quality, BMI, blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood cholesterol. Survey-weighted logistic regression models were employed to assess the associations between LS7 and chronic constipation and diarrhea, adjusting for various demographic and health-related covariates. Results: Our findings revealed a significant inverse association between LS7 adherence and the prevalence of chronic constipation (OR: 0.914, 95% CI: 0.864-0.966, P = 0.003) and chronic diarrhea (OR: 0.883, 95% CI: 0.856-0.912, P < 0.0001). The protective effect of LS7 was more pronounced among males and individuals with a BMI under 30 kg/m² for chronic constipation, and among younger adults and those without hypertension for chronic diarrhea. Restricted cubic spline analyses indicated a doseresponse relationship, particularly for chronic diarrhea. Conclusions: This study highlights the protective role of LS7 in promoting bowel health and preventing chronic constipation and diarrhea. Tailoring public health interventions based on demographic and health characteristics may enhance the effectiveness of strategies aimed at improving gastrointestinal health outcomes.
Keywords: Life's Simple 7, Chronic constipation, Chronic diarrhea, Bowel health, Public Health, lifestyle factors, NHANES
Received: 31 Oct 2024; Accepted: 03 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sun, Qi, Ming, Wang and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lei Qi, Third People's Hospital of Hefei, Hefei, China
Yiwei Ming, Third People's Hospital of Hefei, Hefei, China
Weichen Wang, Anhui No 2 Provincial People's Hospital, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
Maoneng Hu, Third People's Hospital of Hefei, Hefei, China
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