Behavioral and emotional problems in adolescents with constipation and their association with quality of life.

ObjectivesTo assess behavioral and emotional problems in children and adolescents with functional constipation and their relationship with psychological maladjustment and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).DesignA school-based cross-sectional survey conducted in 8 randomly selected schools from 4 randomly selected districts in Sri Lanka. A previously validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Behavioral and emotional problems were assessed using the Sinhala version of the Child Behavior Check List (CBCL-S/4-18). Constipation was diagnosed by applying the Rome III criteria.ResultsA total of 1000 questionnaires were distributed, and 913 completed questionnaires were included in the analysis. Sixty adolescents (6.5%) had functional constipation. Scores obtained for isolated psychological problems such as withdrawal (3.1 [3.1] vs. 1.9 [2.4], pConclusionsAdolescents with functional constipation are suffering from significant behavioral and emotional problems. These problems negatively affect their HRQoL