EVALUATION OF A STANDARD PROTOCOL FOR RETENTIVE ENCOPRESIS - A REPLICATION

Replicated the efficacy of a short-term, combined medical and behavior al intervention protocol for retentive encopresis. Fifty-nine children who had failed standard medical management for retentive encopresis a nd their parents participated in six 1-hour group treatment sessions. Treatment protocol combined the medical management strategies of enema clean out, increasing dietary fiber, and daily toilet sitting with th e child behavior management strategies of differential attention, cont ingency management, and contracting. For the overall sample, the numbe r of soiling incidents decreased 85%, the weekly frequency of independ ent bowel movements increased 15%, the weekly, frequency of parent-pro mpted bowel movements increased 9%, and daily dietary fiber intake inc reased 121% pre-to posttreatment. The majority of the sample (86%) sto pped soiling by the end of treatment and did not require further treat ment. Results are discussed in terms of the comparability with previou s findings and the utility of combined medical and psychological treat ments for children with encopresis who have failed standard medical ap proaches.