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Impact of Health Workers Infant Feeding Practices Training on the Prevalence of Functional Constipation among Children at Six Years Old. A Cluster Randomized Field Trial
Author(s) -
Sangalli Caroline Nicola,
Morais Mauro Batista,
Vitolo Márcia Regina
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.640.14
Subject(s) - medicine , constipation , functional constipation , randomized controlled trial , pediatrics , cluster (spacecraft) , intervention (counseling) , cluster randomised controlled trial , physical therapy , nursing , computer science , programming language
Objective To assess the impact of health workers training on infant feeding practices on the prevalence of functional constipation among children at six years old. Methods Cluster‐randomized field trial conducted in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Health care centers were randomized into intervention (n=9) and control (n=11) groups. The health workers in the intervention group received training on Ten Steps for infant health feeding and the outcomes were assessed for mother‐child pairs who received primary care at these centers. The prevalence of functional constipation were evaluated among children at 6 years old according Rome III criteria. Results The prevalence of functional constipation was lower in the intervention group compared to the control group (18.0% versus 28.9%; PR=0.62; 95%CI: 0.43–0.88, p<0.01). Specifically, the children from intervention group showed a 38% higher probability of not being constipated at 6 years old compared to children from control group. Furthermore, the number of children who presented history of retentive posturing and presence of large fecal mass in the rectum differ between the intervention and control groups (6.6% versus 19.0%; PR=0.34; 95%CI: 0.22–0.54 and 14.4% versus 23.2%; PR= 0.61; 95%CI: 0.43–0.88, respectively, p<0.01). Conclusion Health workers training on feeding practices in the first year of life had a positive impact on reduce the prevalence of functional constipation among low income children at six years old. Support or Funding Information Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPQ) Nº 14/2013‐47731/2013‐8.