Basic Summary for Fecal incontinence

Main name of condition: Fecal incontinence
Other names or spellings: bowel incontinence

What is Fecal incontinence?
  Brief description of Fecal incontinence: Leaking or poorly controlled bowel motions
  Parent types of Fecal incontinence: Anal conditions, Anorectal disorders, Rectal conditions, Incontinence, Under-diagnosed conditions
  Organs Affected by Fecal incontinence: bowel, rectum, anus

How many people get Fecal incontinence?
  Prevalance of Fecal incontinence: 6.5 million Americans
  Prevalance Rate of Fecal incontinence: approx 1 in 41 or 2.39% or 6.5 million people in USA [about data]
  Prevalance of Fecal incontinence: More than 6.5 million Americans have fecal incontinence. ¹

Who gets Fecal incontinence?
  Patient Profile for Fecal incontinence: Can affect any ages, children and adults; more common in older people
  Profile for Fecal incontinence: It affects people of all ages--children as well as adults. Fecal incontinence is more common in women than in men and more common in older adults than in younger ones. It is not, however, a normal part of aging. ¹
  Gender Profile for Fecal incontinence: More common in women

How serious is Fecal incontinence?
Complications of Fecal incontinence: see complications of Fecal incontinence

What causes Fecal incontinence?
Causes of Fecal incontinence: Fecal incontinence can have several causes:

damage to the anal sphincter muscles
damage to the nerves of the anal sphincter muscles or the rectum
loss of storage capacity in the rectum
diarrhea
pelvic floor dysfunction

¹
Causes of Fecal incontinence: see causes of Fecal incontinence
Risk factors for Fecal incontinence: see risk factors for Fecal incontinence

What are the symptoms of Fecal incontinence?
Symptoms of Fecal incontinence: see symptoms of Fecal incontinence

How is it treated?
Treatments for Fecal incontinence: see treatments for Fecal incontinence

Society issues for Fecal incontinence
Hospitalization statistics for Fecal incontinence: The following are statistics from various sources about hospitalizations and Fecal incontinence:

0.016% (2,051) of hospital consultant episodes were for faecal incontinence in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
96% of hospital consultant episodes for faecal incontinence required hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
29% of hospital consultant episodes for faecal incontinence were for men in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
71% of hospital consultant episodes for faecal incontinence were for women in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
9% of hospital consultant episodes for faecal incontinence required emergency hospital admission in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
7.5 days was the mean length of stay in hospitals for faecal incontinence in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
4 days was the median length of stay in hospitals for faecal incontinence in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
52 was the mean age of patients hospitalised for faecal incontinence in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
46% of hospital consultant episodes for faecal incontinence occurred in 15-59 year olds in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
17% of hospital consultant episodes for faecal incontinence occurred in people over 75 in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
55% of hospital consultant episodes for faecal incontinence were single day episodes in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)
0.012% (6,228) of hospital bed days were for faecal incontinence in England 2002-03 (Hospital Episode Statistics, Department of Health, England, 2002-03)

Footnotes:
1. excerpt from Fecal Incontinence: NIDDK

Last revision: May 30, 2003

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