| Review the patient’s medication list to evaluate for medications that may cause constipation. | C | 15 |
| Encourage patients to attempt to have a bowel movement soon after waking in the morning or 30 minutes after meals to take advantage of the gastrocolic reflex. | C | 18 |
| Increasing dietary fiber intake to 25 to 30 g daily may improve symptoms of constipation. | C | 19 |
| Encourage physical activity to improve bowel regularity. | B | 21,24,25 |
| If nonpharmacologic approaches fail, recommend increased fiber intake and/or laxatives to increase bowel movement frequency and improve symptoms of constipation. | B | 26 |
| Biofeedback therapy is the treatment of choice for anorectal dysfunction. | B | 43 |
| Surgery is reserved for persistent and intractable constipation in patients who have been evaluated and proven to have slow transit constipation. | B | 42,44 |