Children with FAP reported lower QoL, compared with their healthy peers, and had the same QoL scores as did children with IBD or GERD. Parents' perceptions of QoL for children with FAP were lower than their children's self-reported scores. These findings highlight the clinical significance of FAP and may provide insight into one facet of the disease's biopsychosocial etiology.

At initial evaluation, children with constipation have a lower quality of life than do children with inflammatory bowel disease or gastroesophageal reflux disease. Self-reported lower scores may be a reflection of impaired physical ability. Parental perceptions of low quality of life are probably impacted by the duration of their child's symptoms and by family members with similar complaints. Practitioners should be aware of the high level of parental concern and the relatively low self-reported and parent-reported quality of life in children with chronic constipation as they plan therapy.

No abstract