Screening of vitamin D deficiency in children with chronic functional constipation

Introduction
Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies worldwide. Chronic functional constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders in childhood in developing and developed countries. Vitamin D has been linked to different systemic diseases. The medical domain has recently been interested in the role of vitamin D.

Aim
To screen for vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among children with chronic functional constipation.

Material and methods
It was a cross-sectional study. Two groups of children were collected at the outpatient clinic at Alexandria University. Children who fulfilled Rome IV criteria of chronic functional constipation were assigned to the first group (Constipation group). Children who did not have chronic functional constipation were considered as the second group (Healthy control group). Vitamin D level was measured in both groups. Statistical analysis used: Data were fed to the computer and analysed using IBM SPSS software package version 20.0. Quantitative data were described using range (minimum and maximum), mean, standard deviation, and median.

Results
Vitamin D levels were significantly deficient or at least insufficient in the group of children with chronic functional constipation.

Conclusions
Chronic functional constipation is associated with vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in children.