Clinical significance of tests for bowel function in patients with chronic constipation        ZOU Duo-wu, ZHANG Ling. Department of Gastroenterology, Changhai Hospital, the Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
Corresponding author：ZOU Duo-wu，E-mail:dwzou@smmu.edu.cn
Abstract    Constipation is the most common gastrointestinal complaint in the world. The prevalence of chronic constipation increases with the quickening pace and the changes of lifestyles. Chronic constipation not only obviously affects the life quality of the patients, but also is a serious health issue, especially for old people. Tests for bowel function could give tremendous insight into the pathophysiological basis for constipation, guide the selection of drugs, develop individualized treatment programs, and evaluate pre- and postoperative effects.