Functional constipation in children: What physicians should know

Table 1 Prevalence of functional constipation in children according to Rome IV and factors associated with functional constipation

Ref.	Country	Population	Sample size	Age	Method of data collection	Prevalence of FC, n	Factors associated with FC
Huang et al[139], 2021	China	4 community hospitals in Jinhua and Shanghai	2604	0-4 yr	Guardian interview	92 (3.5%)	Vaginal delivery (OR = 0.01, 95%CI: 0.00-0.17), forceps delivery (OR: > 999, 95%CI: 154 to > 999)
Chew et al[140], 2021	Malaysia	A well child clinic, University Malaya medical center	534	1-12 mo	Guardian interview	6 (1.1%)	NA
Ibrahim et al[141], 2020	Egypt	Randomly schools in Cairo	1082	4-18 yr	NA	91 (8.4%)	NA
Khayat et al[142], 2021	Saudi Arabia	Public survey (random) from Western	317	3-18 yr	Questionnaire by Google form/links share on social apps	15 (4.7%)	Guardian characteristics, family income, gender, age, development, previous covid ìnfection (P > 0.05)
Benzamin et al[29], 2022	Bangladesh	Schools of Dhaka division	707	5-16 yr	Child interview and examination (face to face)	134 (19%)	Female (P = 0.003), age (P = 0.001), history of FC in siblings/parents (P = 0.001), fibers intake (P = 0.002), fluid intake (P = 0.001), electronic screen time (P = 0.001)
Siajunboriboon et al[143], 2022	Thailand	2 high schools	1700	14-18 yr	Child interview	138 (8.1%)	Guardian characteristics, BMI, history of allergic diseases (P > 0.05)
Chia et al[144], 2022	Vietnam	A government hospital and a government kindergarten	1511	0-48 mo	Guardian interview and examination (face to face)	46 (3%)	Male (OR = 3.6, 95%CI: 1.5-8.5), bottle feeding (OR = 18.5, 95%CI: 1.5-219.4), low income (OR = 5.8, 95%CI: 1.7-19.3)
Asia			8455			522 (6.2%)
Zwiener et al[145], 2017	United States	Online survey	1075	4-18 yr	Guardian interview	144 (13.4%)	NA
Saps et al[146], 2018	Colombia	12 schools in 6 cities	3567	8-18 yr	Child interview	382 (10.7%)	NA
Robin et al[147], 2018	United States	Online survey panels by CINT, United States	1255	0-18 yr	Guardian interview	186 (14.8%)	NA
Játiva-Mariño E et al[148], 2019	Ecuador	1 public and 1 private school	951	8-15 yr	Child interview	137 (14.4%)	NA
Saps et al[149], 2020	Colombia	6 outpatient clinics	1334	1-48 mo	Guardian interview (face to face)	281 (15.1%)	NA
Velasco-Benitez et al[150], 2020	Colombia	4 public schools	1497	10-18 yr	Guardians interview	194 (13%)	NA
Baaleman et al[151], 2021	Colombia	A public school	118	11-18 yr	Child interview	16 (13.6%)	NA
Velasco-Benítez et al[152], 2021	Colombia	5 to 8 grade students in Cali	465	10-18 yr	Children interview	52 (28.7%)	NA
Dos Santos et al[27], 2021	Brazil	Public parks and school areas	799	5-14 yr	Guardian interview	163 (20.4%)	Sex, type of school (P > 0.05)
de Morais et al[153], 2022	Brazil	Pediatric private clinics in 5 regions	4560	0-12 mo	Guardian interview	341 (7.6%)	Age 162-248 d (OR = 1.41, 95%CI: 1.01-1.95), prematurity (OR = 1.44, 95%CI: 1.02-2.02)
America			15621			1896 (12.1%)
Russo et al[21], 2019	Italy	General clinics	214	1 mo-17 yr	Guardian/child interview(face to face)	39 (18.2%)	NA
Vladimir et al[154], 2019	Russia	University clinic	300	0-48 mo	Guardian interview	45 (15%)	NA
Steutel et al[155], 2020	Belgium, Italy, Netherland	General pediatrics hospital (Belgium, Italy) and well-baby clinic (the Netherlands)	2751	0-48 mo	Guardian interview and examination (face to face)	151 (5.4%)	NA
Campeotto et al[156], 2020	France	Private out-patient pediatricians and general practitioner	1570	0-12 mo	Guardian interview and examination (face to face)	141 (9%)	NA
Alonso-Bermejo et al[157], 2022	Spain	A pediatric gastroenterology clinic	574	0-16 yr	Guardian/child interview and examination (face to face)	41 (7.1%)	NA
Beser et al[158], 2021	Turkey	9 tertiary Hospital	2383	1-12 mo	Child interview and examination (face to face)	112 (4.7%)	NA
Strisciuglio et al[159], 2022	6 Mediterranean countries1	Nursery schools, primary schools and secondary schools, randomly	4353	4-18 yr	Guardian interview	475 (10.9%)	NA
Europe			12145			1004 (8.3%)
Bellaiche et al[160], 2020	10 countries in Africa2	Children with gastrointestinal symptoms	10458	0-12 mo	Guardians interview and examination (face to face)	3283 (31.4%)	NA
Africa			10458			3283 (31.4%)
All over the world			46679			6704 (14.4%)

¹6 Mediterranean countries: Croatia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia.

²10 countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Madagascar, Morocco, Mauritius, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tunisia.

CINT: A global software in digital insight and research technology; FC: Functional constipation; CI: Confidence interval; OR: Odds ratio; apps: Applications; NA: Not available; BMI: Body mass index.