This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Chronic diarrhoea

Authoring team

Chronic diarrhoea is defined as diarrhoea lasting for more than 4 weeks

  • a 4-week cut-off for a diagnosis of chronic diarrhoea has been used in studies done in industrialized countries
  • prevalence of chronic diarrhoea varies with the population surveyed and the inconsistency in the definition of chronic diarrhoea,
    • if based on the criterion of excessive stool frequency (>3 times/day) or loose stools (more than 25% of the time), the prevalence of chronic diarrhoea in the USA varies from 14 to 18%
    • if based on increased stool frequency alone the prevalence is approximately 5% (1)

Diagnosing chronic diarrhoea is a considerable challenge with several hundred conditions in the differential diagnosis.

Reference:

  1. Schiller LR et al. Gastro 2013 APDW/WCOG Shanghai working party report: chronic diarrhea: definition, classification, diagnosis. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014;29(1):6-25.

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.