“Poop School”: Outcomes of an Interdisciplinary Group Intervention for Pediatric Functional Constipation

Objective: Functional constipation and encopresis are common in childhood. Interdisciplinary group treatments offer successful clinical interventions for these medical conditions. Prior research has reported the feasibility and acceptability of a group treatment model for functional constipation, demonstrating its feasibility and acceptability. The current study extends these outcomes by quantifying how long children require treatment to achieve clinical resolution of symptoms and continent toileting. We aimed to answer critical clinical questions regarding overall intervention effectiveness and the timeline required for children to resolve chronic symptoms. Methods: We reviewed the medical records and standard-of-care clinical questionnaires of 170 children (ages 3–7 years) who participated in the Functional Constipation Shared Medical Appointment (FC-SMA). Notably, the sample included young children down to age 3 and did not screen for baseline developmental toilet-training readiness. Results: The FC-SMA yielded significant clinical improvements, including maintained stool continence for at least 1 month, increased calm toilet sitting, and improved parent coping. As a secondary milestone, we tracked time to treatment success (defined as resolving Rome IV constipation criteria and maintaining stool continence). Most children graduated within 14 months (75th percentile). Conclusion: This interdisciplinary model effectively delivers a time-limited, targeted intervention to reduce pediatric functional constipation and encopresis. Implications for Impact Statement This study presents clear, user-friendly clinical outcomes of an interdisciplinary group treatment for pediatric functional constipation and encopresis. The behavioral group treatment demonstrated several positive clinical outcomes, including reduced fecal accidents, increased calm toilet sitting, improved parent coping, and treatment success within 14 months for approximately 75% of children.