A Study on Chronic Constipation Etiology and Risk Factors Among School Age Children in Assuit University Children Hospital

Childhood constipation is a frequently overlooked global health problem, which is developing in a public health issue in many parts of the world.(1) Constipation is one of the commonest digestive complaints in children(2) Constipation has long been considered a symptom, rather than a disease(3)

It is often perceived as infrequent motions or passage of hard stools. Some defined constipation as less than 3 bowel motions per week)4(

or as difficulty in passing stools (5) Approximately 0.5% of school children have defecation frequency less than 3 per week and 0.3% have fecal incontinence(6) Furthermore, 20% of children also have at least 1 clinical feature of constipation.7 Therefore, it is important to use diagnostic criteria based on multiple symptoms to define constipation