title: Prevalence and Health Outcomes of Functional Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Infants From Birth to 12 Months of Age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the study was to review published evidence and the opinion of practising clinicians on the prevalence and long-term health consequences of functional gastrointestinal symptoms in infants younger than 12 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed was searched from inception to November 2014 to find articles reporting the prevalence and long-term health outcomes of infantile colic, regurgitation, functional constipation, functional diarrhoea, and dyschezia in infants younger than <12 months. A questionnaire was sent to practising clinicians worldwide, and a group of 15 international experts met to discuss the likely frequency and longer-term consequences of these symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The literature search identified 30 studies reporting the prevalence of infantile colic (2%-73%), 13 that of regurgitation (3%-87%), 8 that of functional constipation (0.05%-39.3%), 2 that of functional diarrhoea (2%-4.1%), and 3 that of dyschezia (0.9%-5.6%). The studies varied in design, populations investigated, and definition of the symptoms. Questionnaires were received from 369 respondents. The experts agreed that the likely prevalences for colic, regurgitation, and functional constipation were 20%, 30%, and 15%, respectively. The limited data in the literature for functional diarrhoea and dyschezia suggest prevalences <10%. Infantile colic may be associated with future health problems in a subset of infants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Functional gastrointestinal symptoms appear to occur in a significant proportion of infants younger than 12 months and may have an impact on future health outcomes. Prospective collection of data according to agreed criteria is needed to obtain more accurate estimates of the prevalence and consequences of these symptoms.
authors: *UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium †Unit of Pediatric Gastroenterology, University Hospital Ibn Rochd, Faculty of Medicine, University Hassan 2, Casablanca, Morocco ‡GI Unit, Robert Debre Hospital, Paris, France §Emma Children's Hospital/Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ||Gastroentérologie, Hépatologie et Nutrition, Clinique Universitaire de Pédiatrie, Grenoble Cedex 9, France ¶Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey #Children's Nutrition Research Centre, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia **Department of Child Health University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia ††Department of Pediatrics, Section of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Transplantation, Hospital Italiano, Buenos Aires, Argentina ‡‡Nutricia Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands §§Pediatric GI, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates ||||Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Paulista School of Medicine, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil ¶¶Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand ##Clinica Pediatrica, Università dell'Insubria, Varese, Italy ***Schneider Children's Medical Centre of Israel, Tel-Aviv University, Israel †††Department of Translational Medical Science, Section of Pediatrics, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy ‡‡‡Department of Paediatrics, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland §§§Gastroenterology Unit, Great Ormond Street Hospital and UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
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mesh_terms: D000067576:Child Health; D003085:Colic / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003248:Constipation / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015995:Prevalence