A goal of a study published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition was to evaluate the treatment adherence of children with chronic functional constipation.

This prospective, longitudinal study recruited 50 children, with a mean age of 77.6 ± 43.8 months and mean age of the onset of symptoms 18.8 ± 27.9 months, from a Brazilian University Hospital between August 2009 and October 2011. The Rome III criteria and the Bristol Stool Scale were utilized to define constipation and to characteristics of feces, respectively.

The findings revealed an adherence rate of 38% to drug treatments prescribed, according to the protocols previously standardized in the clinic, in the first month and 30% in the sixth month. It was noted that patients who received polyethylene glycol had greater adherence than patients who were prescribed other laxatives, especially, in the second phase of the study.

Hence, polyethylene glycol rendered higher adherence to treatment in children with constipation. It was recommended that devising new strategies to increase adherence to drug treatments for constipation in children is essential.