Constipation is common, but its measured prevalence changes substantially with the diagnostic criteria, survey method, population, and period studied. Global Rome-defined estimates range from 9.50% among adults to 19.89% among older populations, while U.S. healthcare data show a large historical burden of emergency, ambulatory, and hospital care.
Contents
- How constipation prevalence is measured
- Global prevalence by age and diagnostic criteria
- Sex and age patterns in adults
- Country variation in Rome IV surveys
- Constipation statistics in children
- U.S. healthcare use
- Quality of life and economic burden
How constipation prevalence is measured
Prevalence statistics describe the share of a population meeting a definition at the time or period measured. For constipation, those definitions matter. The global meta-analysis summarized here pooled studies using Rome II, Rome III, and Rome IV criteria published from 1999 through 2025. The Rome Foundation study, based on 2017–2018 survey data and published in 2021, reported separate results for an internet survey and a household survey.
Those estimates should not be treated as interchangeable. The internet and household samples use different recruitment methods, and the meta-analysis pools population studies across age groups and study periods. Country percentages below are percentages of the relevant Rome Foundation survey population. The source table provides 95% confidence intervals, although the country figures listed here are reported without them.
For historical U.S. utilization and cost figures, the original measurement period is especially important. The emergency-department results cover 2006–2017, the national ambulatory and hospital figures describe 2004, and the cost estimate of US$235 million describes 2001. These are historical statistics, not current 2026 estimates.
Global prevalence by age and diagnostic criteria
An updated global systematic review and meta-analysis found a pooled prevalence of functional constipation of 12.14% (95% CI 11.14%–13.23%) across all age groups in studies from 1999–2025. When results were grouped by diagnostic version, prevalence was 12.68% (95% CI 8.02%–20.04%) in studies using Rome II criteria and 10.34% (95% CI 9.11%–11.75%) in studies using Rome IV criteria.
Age-specific pooled estimates showed a lower figure among adults and higher figures in older populations and children:
| Population or criteria group | Pooled functional-constipation prevalence | Measurement scope |
|---|---|---|
| Adults | 9.50% (95% CI 8.11%–11.14%) | Global meta-analysis, 1999–2025 studies |
| Children | 12.06% (95% CI 11.05%–13.16%) | Global meta-analysis, 1999–2025 studies |
| Older populations | 19.89% (95% CI 14.67%–26.97%) | Global meta-analysis, 1999–2025 studies |
| Rome II studies | 12.68% (95% CI 8.02%–20.04%) | Global meta-analysis, 1999–2025 studies |
| Rome IV studies | 10.34% (95% CI 9.11%–11.75%) | Global meta-analysis, 1999–2025 studies |
The estimates come from Global Prevalence of Functional Constipation Across All Age Groups According to Rome II-IV Criteria, 1999-2025. Differences between criteria groups do not by themselves establish that one diagnostic system causes a particular prevalence; they describe the studies included under each system.
The Rome Foundation’s 2017–2018 adult survey results also differed by collection method. Rome IV functional constipation affected 11.7% (95% CI 11.4%–12.0%) of adults in the internet-survey sample, compared with 6.6% (95% CI 6.3%–6.9%) in the household-survey sample. These results were published in Worldwide Prevalence and Burden of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, Results of Rome Foundation Global Study.
Sex and age patterns in adults
The 2026 global meta-analysis reported functional-constipation prevalence of 14.60% (95% CI 12.50%–17.04%) among females and 10.62% (95% CI 8.84%–12.75%) among males across studies from 1999–2025.
The Rome Foundation internet survey reported 15.2% among females and 8.3% among males. Its age-group estimates were 13.2% among adults aged 18–39, 11.0% among those aged 40–64, and 9.4% among adults aged 65 and older. In this survey, the reported percentage decreased across the three listed age groups.
The household survey showed a different age pattern. Rome IV functional constipation affected 7.4% of females and 5.8% of males. By age, the household-survey percentages were 5.2% among adults aged 18–39, 6.3% among those aged 40–64, and 11.1% among adults aged 65 and older. Thus, sex and age comparisons depend on the survey method as well as the population being measured.
The Rome Foundation findings come from the Rome Foundation Global Study; the pooled sex estimates come from the 2026 global meta-analysis.
Country variation in Rome IV surveys
Country figures from the Rome Foundation study illustrate why a single global percentage cannot describe every population. In the internet survey, Rome IV functional-constipation prevalence ranged from 7.7% in Australia to 16.6% in Japan among the countries listed here.
| Internet survey country | Rome IV functional-constipation prevalence |
|---|---|
| Australia | 7.7% |
| Canada | 9.3% |
| Belgium | 11.0% |
| Brazil | 11.9% |
| Argentina | 12.2% |
| Egypt | 14.1% |
| France | 14.5% |
| Japan | 16.6% |
The household survey produced a wider range among its listed countries: 1.8% in India, 1.9% in Turkey, 3.5% in Indonesia, 11.0% in Iran, 11.8% in Bangladesh, and 26.1% in Ghana. These are percentages of the relevant household-survey populations, measured using Rome IV criteria in 2017–2018 survey data.
The internet and household country lists should not be ranked as though they were one unified sample. They were collected through different survey approaches, and the source notes that confidence intervals are available in the original table. The figures and their scope are reported in the Rome Foundation Global Study.
Constipation statistics in children
An earlier pediatric systematic review and meta-analysis examined population-based studies using Rome III or Rome IV criteria. Across studies published from 2006–2017, reported functional-constipation prevalence ranged from 0.5% to 32.2%. The pooled pediatric prevalence was 9.5% (95% CI 7.5%–12.1%).
In that pediatric meta-analysis, prevalence was 8.6% in boys and 8.9% in girls. The near-identical estimates are sex-specific results from that analysis and should not be substituted for the broader age and survey comparisons above.
The updated global meta-analysis, covering studies from 1999–2025, estimated functional-constipation prevalence at 12.06% (95% CI 11.05%–13.16%) among children. The two pediatric figures differ in study coverage and timing: the earlier estimate pooled Rome III or IV pediatric studies published from 2006–2017, while the updated estimate belongs to a global all-age review.
Sources are Prevalence of Functional Defecation Disorders in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis and Global Prevalence of Functional Constipation Across All Age Groups According to Rome II-IV Criteria, 1999-2025.
U.S. healthcare use
U.S. emergency departments recorded approximately 1.3 million constipation-diagnosis visits annually during 2006–2017. Pediatric encounters accounted for about one-third of those visits, and the emergency-department constipation-visit rate increased 114% over that period. Urinalysis use increased 17%, while imaging use increased 15%.
Among pediatric constipation visits, general emergency departments used complete blood counts in 29% of cases, compared with 15% in pediatric emergency departments. General emergency departments used urinalysis in 42% of pediatric visits, compared with 31% in pediatric emergency departments. Osmotic laxatives were prescribed in 26% of pediatric visits in general emergency departments and 37% in pediatric emergency departments.
These utilization measures come from Emergency department diagnosis and management of constipation in the United States, 2006-2017. They describe the study period and are not a current national utilization estimate.
Earlier national figures in The Burden of Digestive Diseases in the United States show the scale of care in 2004. U.S. ambulatory-care visits with chronic constipation as the first-listed diagnosis totaled 3.149 million; visits listing chronic constipation among all diagnoses totaled 6.306 million. U.S. hospital discharges with chronic constipation as the first-listed diagnosis totaled 37,000, while discharges listing it among all diagnoses totaled 700,000. The ambulatory-care data were averaged over 2003–2005.
Quality of life and economic burden
A 2020 review estimated chronic idiopathic constipation prevalence in the United States at 16%. The same review reported mean direct outpatient costs of US$6,284 for U.S. patients with chronic idiopathic constipation, compared with US$5,254 for people without it.
Within the constipation group, abdominal symptoms were associated with more disrupted productivity days in the evidence summarized by the review: 3.2 days per month versus 1.2 days among patients without abdominal symptoms. These are review-summarized findings, and the measurement period is not presented here as a new current estimate.
Historical national costs were lower in nominal terms and came from an earlier period. Estimated direct medical costs associated with constipation in the United States were US$235 million in 2001. Outpatient care accounted for 95.3% of that estimate.
The prevalence, outpatient-cost, productivity, and 2001 cost figures are summarized in The Humanistic and Economic Burden of Chronic Idiopathic Constipation in the USA: A Systematic Literature Review. Because these statistics come from different evidence sets and years, they should be read as historical measures of burden rather than combined into a single current cost estimate.