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Home > Community Treatment Reports and Side Effects > Stool Softener Treatment Report
What is Stool Softener?

Stool softeners are used to relieve constipation by people who should avoid straining during bowel movements because of heart conditions, hemorrhoids, and other problems. They soften stools, making them easier to pass.

Reported Purpose & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Purpose # of patients
# of patients with evaluations Efficacy
Major
Moderate
Slight
None
Can’t tell
Constipation 103 14 Efficacy_major Efficacy_moderate Efficacy_slight Efficacy_none
Bowel problems 44 3 Efficacy_moderate Efficacy_slight
General health 14 0
Other 10 1 Efficacy_moderate
Increase effect of another treatment 7 1 Efficacy_moderate
MS (Multiple Sclerosis) 3 0

See all 182 patients currently taking Stool Softener

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Reported Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe
 0
Moderate
 1
Mild
 3
None
 13

Commonly reported side effects, conditions, and hospitalizations associated with Stool Softener

Cramps 3
Bowel Irregularity 2

Reported Dosages

Frequently reported dosages based on patients currently taking Stool Softener. See all 58 dosages ►

  100mg as needed 1other as needed 200mg as needed mg as needed 1 mg daily 2 mg daily 3 mg daily 100 mg daily 200 mg daily 300 mg daily
  8 Number of Patients: 8 7 Number of Patients: 7 6 Number of Patients: 6 26 Number of Patients: 26 6 Number of Patients: 6 8 Number of Patients: 8 4 Number of Patients: 4 31 Number of Patients: 31 12 Number of Patients: 12 6 Number of Patients: 6  

Reported Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Taking Stool Softener (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason # Patients Percentage of patients
Other 17   Other: 35%
Did not seem to work 10   Did not seem to work: 21%
Course of treatment ended 8   Course of treatment ended: 17%
Personal research 4   Personal research: 8%
Doctor's advice 4   Doctor's advice: 8%
Side effects too severe 2   Side effects too severe: 4%
Not indicated 2   Not indicated: 4%

See all 39 patients who’ve stopped taking Stool Softener

Reported Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

Currently Taking Stool Softener

A bar graph

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more
0
0

Stopped Taking Stool Softener

A bar graph

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more

Reported Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Adherence of Stool Softener

Always
 14 82%
Usually
 2 12%
Sometimes
 1 6%
Never
 0 0%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Burden of Stool Softener

Very
 0 0%
Somewhat
 0 0%
A little
 3 18%
Not at all
 14 82%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

Cost of Stool Softener

$200+
 0 0%
$100-199
 0 0%
$50-99
 1 11%
$25-49
 0 0%
< $25
 8 89%

Report created on May 26, 2012.