The Prevalence of Sleep Disorders Among Children with Chronic Functional Constipation, a Study in Arak, Iran

Background: Functional constipation (FC) is a common problem in childhood worldwide. This disorder can lead to various physical and behavioral problems and ultimately reduce the quality of life. Sleep disorders are also among the complaints of patients with FC. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of sleep disorders in children with chronic FC. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 140 children aged 5 to 12 with chronic FC referred to the specialized pediatrics clinic of Amirkabir Hospital of Arak, Iran. The functional constipation was diagnosed based on Rome ΙV criteria. Children and their parents were requested to complete the Children’s Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 22 using the chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests to find significant associations at the significance level of 5%. Results: The mean (SD) age of the participants was 7.36 ± 1.6, and most participants were boys (65.7%). The prevalence of sleep disorders in children with chronic FC was 62.9% (95% CI: 54.5 - 70.2). Sleep resistance and sleep apnea were the most common minor sleep disorders. The prevalence of sleep disorders was significantly higher in girls (81.3%) than in boys (53.3%) with chronic FC (P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of sleep disorders in children with chronic FC aged 5 to 8 and 9 to 12. Conclusions: In the present study, the results showed that the prevalence of sleep disorders in children with chronic FC was significant, and it was higher compared to other studies conducted on healthy children, and also it was found that girls had a significantly higher rate of sleep disorders than boys.