New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Advances in Pure and Applied Sciences Issue 8, (2017) 50-59 ISSN 2547-880X www.propaas.eu Selected Paper of 4nd World Conference on Health Sciences (H-SCI 2017), 28-30 April 2017 Grand Park Lara Convention Center, Lara, Antalya, Turkey Constipation Frequency and Factors Influencing Constipation in First-year Nursing Students Aylin Pallos a * , Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey. Aysel Ozdemir b , Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey. Neriman Akansel c , Department of Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey. Hicran Yıldız d , Department of Medical Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey. Nevin Utkualp e , Department of Obstetrics and Gynecological Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey. Suggested Citation: Pallos, A., Ozdemir, A., Akansel, N., Yıldız, H. & Utkualp, N. (2017). Constipation frequency and factors influencing constipation in first-year nursing students. New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Advances in Pure and Applied Sciences. [Online]. 08, pp 50-59. Available from: www.propaas.eu Selection and peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Afsun Ezel Esatoglu, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ankara University, Turkey. © 2017 SciencePark Research, Organization & Counseling. All rights reserved. Abstract The aim of this study was to determine constipation frequency and the factors that influence constipation among first-year nursing students. Data collection form and the constipation severity instrument were used for data collection. A total of 149 students, with mean average age of 19.11 ± 1.55 participated in the study; 62.4% was female and 24.2% of the students were constipated. Straining (16.1%) and difficulty (15.4%) during defecation was stressed by some of the students. The constipation complaints were pain (41.7%) and abdominal distention (25%). The mean score of the constipation severity instrument was 27.24 ± 8.38 (obstructive defecation 13.83 ± 3.90, colonic inertia 11.00 ± 4.11 and pain 2.40 ± 2.08). * ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE: Aylin Pallos ,Department of Fundamentals of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Uludag University, Bursa 16059, Turkey. E-mail address: aylinpallos@uludag.edu.tr / Tel.: 0 224 294 00 00