Cleveland Clinic Constipation Score (Wexner)

Cleveland Clinic (Wexner) Constipation Score (Agachan 1996): eight items summed 0-30 (frequency, difficulty, incomplete evacuation, pain, time in lavatory, assistance, failed attempts, duration).

Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.

Example

Frequency
2
Difficulty (painful effort)
3
Feeling of incomplete evacuation
2
Abdominal pain
2
Time in lavatory per attempt
2
Assistance
1
Unsuccessful attempts per 24 h
2
Duration of constipation
3

Result: Cleveland constipation 17 of 30 — above the > 15 cutoff.

The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.

What the result means

Cutoff
higher = more severe constipation; a score above 15 is the commonly cited cutoff (the derivation cohort all scored > 15), treated as advisory. Distinct from the Wexner fecal incontinence score.

What you enter

  • Frequency: 0 (1-2/1-2 days), 1 (2/wk), 2 (1/wk), 3 (<1/wk), 4 (<1/month)
  • Difficulty (painful effort): 0 never to 4 always
  • Feeling of incomplete evacuation: 0 never to 4 always
  • Abdominal pain: 0 never to 4 always
  • Time in lavatory per attempt: 0 (<5 min) to 4 (>30 min)
  • Assistance: 0 none, 1 stimulant laxatives, 2 digital/enema
  • Unsuccessful attempts per 24 h: 0 never to 4 always
  • Duration of constipation: 0 (0 y) to 4 (>20 y)
How this is calculated
Items
eight items summed 0-30: frequency, difficulty, incomplete evacuation, pain, time in lavatory, assistance, failed attempts, and duration; seven score 0-4 and assistance scores 0-2.

Agachan F, Chen T, Pfeifer J, Reissman P, Wexner SD. A constipation scoring system to simplify evaluation and management of constipated patients. Dis Colon Rectum. 1996;39(6):681-685. Read the source ↗

A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.

Browse all tools

Built by Clay Good. Source on GitHub.