Effect of Abdominal Muscles Strengthening Exercises on the Severity of Chronic Constipation in Older Adults

Chronic constipation is a significant healthcare problem in older people and impactsnegatively on quality of life. The nurse should encourage the older adults to performabdominal muscles strengthening exercises, it can strengthen the abdominal muscles andincrease the frequency of bowel movements in constipated patients. Objective: Determine theeffect of abdominal muscles strengthening exercises on the severity of chronic constipationamong the older adults. Setting: The outpatient clinics at the Specialized Medical Hospital,Mansoura University. Subjects: 100 older adult patients aged 60 years and above, havechronic constipation for at least one year. Tools: Six tools were used namely; Older AdultsSocio-demographic and Clinical Data Structured Interview Schedule, Katz and Akpom Scale,Lawton and Brady Scale, Constipation Assessment Scale, Older Adults’ Knowledge Relatedto Constipation Structured Interview Schedule, and Constipation Management ObservationalChecklist. Results: After the intervention the elders who have moderate and severe degree ofchronic constipation reported improvement in the severity of chronic constipation anddecrease in their numbers. Conclusion: Performance of abdominal muscle strengtheningexercises improved the severity of the degree of chronic constipation for the majority of thesubjects in the study group. Recommendations: Nurses and caregivers raise awareness ofcommunity dwelling older adults who attend the outpatient clinics and reside in assistedliving facilities regarding healthy lifestyle and abdominal muscle strengthening exercises.