Time to Talk: Stigmatizing Disorder Demands Attention
Bowel incontinence (BI), also called fecal incontinence and accidental bowel leakage, is a devastating illness. BI is defined as the accidental passing of solid or liquid stools from the anus. It is generally caused by degeneration, irritation, and weakness of the anal sphincter and pelvic floor muscles, which can result in occasional loss of bowel control. Some feel an urgent need, while others have no sensation at all and total loss of bowel control.
BI is more common than most people think. Among noninstitutionalized people living in the community, between 7 to 15 percent have had BI in the past year. Risk factors are numerous and include certain medications (e.g., metformin), obesity, trauma during childbirth, digestive tract disorders, constipation, smoking, chronic disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, and other known and unknown causes. BI is more common among women and more common as people age.
People with BI often suffer emotionally, physically, and socially. In addition to physical discomfort due to skin irritation, BI is associated with anxiety, loss of dignity, anger, shame, depression, loneliness, and a high financial burden.
Though BI often reduces quality of life, most people do not speak with their health care providers about their condition. An estimated 70 percent of people surveyed said they did not talk about their condition with their doctors, often because they were either too embarrassed to discuss it, or because they believed there was nothing their doctors could do to help them.
