title: Stool consistency, but not frequency, correlates with total gastrointestinal transit time in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the correlation between stool characteristics (consistency and frequency) and gut transit time in children and to determine whether the Bristol Stool Form Scale is a reliable method of assessing intestinal transit rate in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  From March 2011 to March 2012, 44 children (25 boys and 19 girls, mean age 7.8 years) with a diagnosis of functional constipation and 36 healthy, nonconstipated children (17 boys and 19 girls, mean age 7.6 years) were enrolled. All participants maintained a 1-week stool diary, recording the time and date of every bowel movement and stool form, and then completed a validated questionnaire on functional constipation according to Rome III criteria. Whole gut transit time (WGTT) was then assessed using the radiopaque markers test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant correlation between stool form and WGTT in both constipated and nonconstipated children (correlation coefficient -0.84, P<.001). By contrast, there was no correlation between either stool frequency and WGTT or stool frequency and stool form. Multivariate logistic regression analysis, using WGTT as a dependent variable, showed that the sole variable significantly associated with WGTT was stool form (regression coefficient 2.9, OR 18.4, 95% CI 5.4-62.5, P<.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this prospective, observational, case-control study, we show that stool form, as measured by the Bristol Stool Form Scale, rather than stool frequency, correlates with WGTT in both constipated and nonconstipated children.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors: Marina
authors: M
authors: Russo
authors: Massimo
authors: M
authors: Martinelli
authors: Elisa
authors: E
authors: Sciorio
authors: Carmine
authors: C
authors: Botta
authors: Erasmo
authors: E
authors: Miele
authors: Gianfranco
authors: G
authors: Vallone
authors: Annamaria
authors: A
authors: Staiano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003248:Constipation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005772:Gastrointestinal Transit / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires