Characteristics of defecation, frequency of constipation and factors associated with functional constipation in 0-6 years old children

This study was performed in Faculty of Medicine Well Child Clinic and General Clinic in Gazi University.0-6 year?s old 1018 children are included in this study. Their parents are asked to complete a structured questioner. In this questioner we searched for:?Characteristics of defecation?Frequency of constipation?Factors associated with functional constipationWe demonstrated that stool frequency is high in only breast feed infants who are 0-6 months old. Stool frequency decreased with age and feeding pattern.We found that the constipation rate is 4.7%. In this constipated group, functional constipation and organic constipation is found as 95.8% and 4.2%, respectively. Functional constipation is most common in 25-36 months children. The most frequent complaint is discomfort and the most frequent physical examination finding is stool in the abdominal examination.We found that the functional constipation is associated with prematurity, meconium timing after 24 hours, toilet training before 2 years old, drinking cows milk more than 250 cc daily, refusing school toilets, absence of breast feeding and low fiber diet.