Assessment of Behavioural Disorders in Children with Functional Constipation

Functional constipation (FC) is a common health problem in paediatrics that causes significant physical and emotional distress to patients and their families.

In the current work, we assessed the presence of behavioural problems in children with functional constipation and their pattern and relation to various demographic and disease-associated factors.

A cross-sectional case-control study was conducted, including 55 consecutive children aged 4-16 years diagnosed with functional constipation and 55 healthy age and sex-matched controls. Psychological assessment was done using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist - 17 (PSC-17).

Twenty-six (47.3%) patients with FC had positive total PSC-17 scores while none of the controls had positive scores (p-value < 0.001). Positive internalising and externalising behaviours scores and attention problems were found in 36 (65.5%), 15 (27.3%) and 12 (21.8%) of the patients respectively in contrary to controls where only 6 (10.9%) had positive scores in internalising behaviour, and non-showed externalising behaviour and 4 (7.3%) were inattentive. Older age, longer duration of illness, residency in rural areas and presence of encopresis were found to have a significant association with the presence of such problems.

Children with FC have more behavioural disorders compared to healthy controls. Integration of psychosocial aspects and their management is recommended during dealing with patients with FC.