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Quality of life among Indian paediatric patients suffering from constipation: An evaluative study

Alka Gupta Grewal1, Shashi Mauli Singh2, Nitish Kumar3

  • 1Department of General Surgery, ESIC Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.

Bioinformation
|May 18, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Children with functional constipation experience significantly lower quality of life (QoL) and psychosocial well-being. Routine QoL assessments are crucial for comprehensive treatment planning in pediatric functional constipation.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Gastroenterology
  • Quality of Life Research

Background:

  • Pediatric functional constipation is a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder.
  • It substantially impacts children's health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
  • Psychosocial and school-related effects are often overlooked in clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate HRQoL in children with functional constipation.
  • To compare HRQoL between affected children and healthy controls.
  • To identify factors influencing HRQoL in this population.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional, clinic-based study design.
  • Utilized validated child and parent-reported tools for HRQoL assessment.
  • Employed standard scoring and inferential statistics for group comparisons.

Main Results:

  • Children with functional constipation demonstrated significantly lower total HRQoL and psychosocial scores compared to controls.
  • Higher symptom burden scores were observed in constipated children.
  • The lowest HRQoL was noted in children experiencing painful defecation and fecal incontinence.

Conclusions:

  • Routine HRQoL assessment is vital alongside symptom evaluation for pediatric functional constipation.
  • Comprehensive assessment aids in developing effective treatment plans.
  • Monitoring HRQoL is important for tracking treatment response to behavioral and pharmacologic interventions.

Keywords:
PaediatricsRome IVfunctional constipation (FC)health-related quality of life (HRQoL)pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQL)

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