Outcome in children under 5 years of age with constipation: A prospective follow-up study

Constipation in the pre-school child is common and causes considerable dist ress to children and their parents. There is a lack of information regardin g prognosis in this group of patients although some are clearly at risk of developing long-term difficulties with defaecation. We have previously repo rted characteristics of children under 5 years of age referred to hospital over a one-year period with idiopathic constipation. We now report outcome data after 18 months of follow-up in 41 of the original cohort of 42 childr en. We have also summarised what we regard as good practice in managing con stipation in this age group. Eighteen months after initial outpatient asses sment, the symptoms of constipation were reported to have resolved in 36 (8 8%), although seven of these were still needing regular laxative treatment. It was our subjective impression that the five children who apparently did not improve came from families that had a greater degree of psychosocial p roblems and where compliance with treatment was suspect. This study shows t hat with simple treatment measures and ongoing support, an optimistic progn osis can be given to families from the outset. The minority of pre-school c hildren who do not improve may benefit from a more intensive psychological approach to management.