Table 1 Gastrointestinal complaints with scoring
From: Vitamin B6 deficiency and diseases in elderly people – a study in nursing homes
Variables | Grading | Bowel function | Constipation | Diarrhoea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Stool frequency | ≤1 stool per week | 2 | 3 | 0 |
1-2 stools per week | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
3-6 stools per week | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
1 stool daily | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
2-3 stools daily | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
4-5 stools daily | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
≥6 stools daily | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
Stool consistency: “Bristol Stool Form Scale” | 1. Separate hard lumps, like nuts | 2 | 2 | 0 |
2. Sausage-shaped but lumpy | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
3. Like a sausage or snake but with cracks on its surface | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
4. Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
5. Soft blobs with clear-cut edges | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
6. Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
7. Watery, no solid pieces | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
Straining | ≥25% of defecations | 1 | ||
< 25% of defecations | 0 | |||
Manual manoeuvres | ≥25% of defecations | 1 | ||
< 25% of defecations | 0 | |||
Feeling of incomplete evacuation | ≥ 25% of defecations | 1 | ||
< 25% of defecations | 0 | |||
Sensation of ano-rectal obstruction | ≥ 25% of defecations | 1 | ||
< 25% of defecations | 0 | |||
Sum score (range) | 0 – 4 | 0 – 9 | 0 – 5 |