Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Association Between Selenium Intake with Chronic Constipation and Chronic Diarrhea in Adults: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

  • Published:
Biological Trace Element Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The effects of dietary selenium intake on specific bowel habits (i.e., constipation or diarrhea) in the general population are not well understood. This study aims to evaluate the associations of selenium intake with the risk of chronic constipation and chronic diarrhea in adults aged ≥ 20 years using data from the 2007–2008 and 2009–2010 continuous National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys (NHANES) (N = 9585). Chronic constipation and chronic diarrhea were defined by Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS) types 1 and 2 and BSFS types 6 and 7 as the “usual or most common stool type,” respectively, and frequent laxative users were also defined as having chronic constipation. Dietary selenium intake was obtained from 24-h dietary recall. Multivariable logistic regression models were performed controlling for confounding factors (dietary, lifestyle, psychological, and health conditions). No significant associations between selenium intake and chronic diarrhea were found. However, selenium intake was inversely associated with the risk of chronic constipation. Compared with quartile 1, the multivariate-adjusted ORs (95% CI) of chronic constipation across quartiles 2 to 4 of selenium intake were 0.81 (0.64–1.03), 0.74 (0.58–0.95), and 0.54 (0.33–0.89), respectively. This association was significant among men, but not significant among women in subgroup analyses. Generally, there was an inverse association between selenium intake and chronic constipation in adults that modified by sex.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Papp LV, Lu J, Holmgren A, Khanna KK (2007) From selenium to selenoproteins: synthesis, identity, and their role in human health. Antioxid Redox Signal 9:775–806

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Rayman MP (2012) Selenium and human health. Lancet 379(9822):1256e68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Castro Aguilar-Tablada T, Navarro-Alarcón M, Quesada Granados J, Samaniego Sánchez C, Rufián-Henares JÁ, Nogueras-Lopez F (2016) Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are associated with decreased serum selenium concentrations and increased cardiovascular risk. Nutrients 8(12):780

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Geerling BJ, Badart-Smook A, Stockbrugger RW, Brummer RJM (2000) Comprehensive nutritional status in recently diagnosed patients with inflammatory bowel disease compared with population controls. Eur J Clin Nutr 54:514–521

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lener MR, Gupta S, Scott RJ, Tootsi M, Kulp M, Tammesoo ML, Viitak A, Metspalu A, Serrano-Fernández P, Kladny J, Jaworska-Bieniek K, Durda K, Muszyńska M, Sukiennicki G, Jakubowska A, Lubiński J (2013) Can selenium levels act as a marker of colorectal cancer risk? BMC Cancer 13:214

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Choung RS, Locke GR, Schleck CD et al (2007) Cumulative incidence of chronic constipation: a population-based study 1988-2003. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 26:1521–1528

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Sorouri M, Pourhoseingholi MA, Vahedi M, Safaee A, Moghimi-Dehkordi B, Pourhoseingholi A, Habibi M, Zali MR (2010) Functional bowel disorders in Iranian population using Rome III criteria. Saudi J Gastroenterol 16:154–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhao Y-F, Guo XJ, Zhang ZS, Ma XQ, Wang R, Yan XY, He J (2012) Epidemiology of functional diarrhea and comparison with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome: a population-based survey in China. PLoS One 7:e43749

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Irvine EJ, Ferrazzi S, Pare P, Thompson WG, Rance L (2002) Health-related quality of life in functional GI disorders: focus on constipation and resource utilization. Am J Gastroenterol 97:1986–1993

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Schiller LR, Pardi DS, Sellin JH (2017) Chronic diarrhea: diagnosis and management. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 15:182–193.e3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Markland AD, Palsson O, Goode PS, Burgio KL, Busby-Whitehead J, Whitehead WE (2013) Association of low dietary intake of fiber and liquids with constipation: evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am J Gastroenterol 108:796–803

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Singh P, Mitsuhashi S, Ballou S, Rangan V, Sommers T, Cheng V, Iturrino-Moreda J, Friedlander D, Nee J, Lembo A (2018) Demographic and dietary associations of chronic diarrhea in a representative sample of adults in the United States. Am J Gastroenterol 113:593–600

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Wang Y, Gao X, Pedram P, Shahidi M, Du J, Yi Y, Gulliver W, Zhang H, Sun G (2016) Significant beneficial association of high dietary selenium intake with reduced body fat in the coding study. Nutrients 8:24

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. National Institute of Health: Selenium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals [Available at: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Selenium-HealthProfessional/#en14]

  15. Sommers T, Mitsuhashi S, Singh P, Hirsch W, Katon J, Ballou S, Rangan V, Cheng V, Friedlander D, Iturrino J, Lembo A, Nee J (2019) Prevalence of chronic constipation and chronic diarrhea in diabetic individuals in the United States. Am J Gastroenterol 114:135–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Ballou S, Katon J, Singh P, Rangan V, Lee HN, McMahon C, Iturrino J, Lembo A, Nee J (2019) Chronic diarrhea and constipation are more common in depressed individuals. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 17(13):2696–2703

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Shu Y, Wu M, Yang S, Wang Y, Li H (2020) Association of dietary selenium intake with telomere length in middle-aged and older adults. Clin Nutr S0261-5614(20):30037–30036

    Google Scholar 

  18. International Diabetes Federation Guideline Development Group (2014) Global guideline for type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 104:1–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Whelton PK, Carey RM, Aronow WS, Casey DJ, Collins KJ, Dennison HC, DePalma SM, Gidding S, Jamerson KA, Jones DW et al (2018) 2017 ACC/AHA/AAPA/ABC/ACPM/AGS/APhA/ASH/ASPC/NMA/PCNA guideline for the prevention, detection, evaluation, and management of high blood pressure in adults: executive summary: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines. J Am Coll Cardiol 71:2199–2269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Ballou S, Singh P, Rangan V, Iturrino J, Nee J, Lembo A (2019) Obesity is associated with significantly increased risk for diarrhoea after controlling for demographic, dietary and medical factors: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2009-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 50:1019–1024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. National Center for Health Statistics. Module 3: Weighting. https:// wwwn.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/tutorials/module3.aspx. Accessed 12 October 2020

  22. Molodecky NA, Soon IS, Rabi DM, Ghali WA, Ferris M, Chernoff G, Benchimol EI, Panaccione R, Ghosh S, Barkema HW, Kaplan GG (2012) Increasing incidence and prevalence of the inflammatory bowel diseases with time based on systematic review. Gastroenterology 142:46–54 e30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. McCrea GL, Miaskowski C, Stotts NA et al (2009) Gender differences in self-reported constipation characteristics, symptoms, and bowel and dietary habits among patients attending a specialty clinic for constipation. Gend Med 6:259–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Shen L, Huang C, Lu X, Xu X, Jiang Z, Zhu C (2019) Lower dietary fiber intake, but not total water consumption, is associated with constipation: a population-based analysis. J Hum Nutr Diet 32(4):422–431

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for sharing the data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anorectal Surgery, Dongyang People’s Hospital, 60 West Wuning Road, Jinhua, 322100, Zhejiang, China

    Chaoqian Wang, Lei Zhang & Lijun Li

Authors
  1. Chaoqian Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lei Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lijun Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lijun Li.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

NHANES was approved by the National Center for Health Statistics Research Ethics Review Board.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 29 kb).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, C., Zhang, L. & Li, L. Association Between Selenium Intake with Chronic Constipation and Chronic Diarrhea in Adults: Findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Biol Trace Elem Res 199, 3205–3212 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02451-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-020-02451-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation