Health Related Quality of Life in Children with Functional Constipation and Impact on Family as Assessed by PedQL 4.0 Questionnaire: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Functional constipation (FC) is a common pediatric problem which has the propensity to affect the quality of life of the child and the family. This study aimed to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with FC and its impact on families as compared with healthy children. Material and Methods: This study enrolled children 2–12 years old along with their primary caregiver presenting to the Pediatric OPD of a tertiary care teaching hospital with complaints of constipation and were diagnosed as FC as per ROME-IV criteria. Age and gender matched controls were enrolled from healthy children attending OPD for routine check-up or minor ailment such as URI. Pediatric Quality of Life (PedQL 4.0) inventory developed by Varni et al. was used for assessment of Quality of Life in children and Family impact. It has three components—Generic core scale, Family impact module and gastrointestinal symptom module. Data was analyzed using SPSS-23. Results: The study enrolled 38 children with constipation and 34 controls along with their respective caregivers. There was no significant difference in age, gender distribution, family nature and type of toilet used between the two groups. Two-thirds of the cases were living in a joint family. The mean score in physical, emotional and social functioning were significantly lower among the cases compared to controls. The scores in different domains of family impact modules were not statistically different. Conclusion: Children with FC have significantly lower scores in physical, emotional and social domains of the Generic core scale of PedQL 4.0.