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Constipation is a common side effect of anticholinergic drugs. This study examined the association between these drugs and constipation in a nursing home population.
For 1 month, investigators recorded the daily medication use of 800 residents (mean age, 85) at 12 nursing homes. Laxative administration was used as a measure of constipation; 74 percent of patients received laxatives daily. Six percent of patients took anticholinergic antidepressants (e.g., amitriptyline) on at least 5 days of the month, 7 percent took diphenhydramine (an anticholinergic antihistamine), and 10 percent took anticholinergic neuroleptics (e.g., chlorpromazine).
Patients taking anticholinergic drugs were 2 to 3 times more likely to require daily laxatives than othe…