Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Pediatrician Awareness of Infant Dyschezia in Indonesia

PURPOSE: This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of infant dyschezia as well as pediatrician awareness regarding this disease in Indonesia. METHODS: This is a two-part cross-sectional study, which was divided into study A and B. Study A: Parents whose infants were under 9 months old and attended well-baby clinics were recruited at two randomly selected primary health centers. Parents also provided information on the infant’s previous medical history, and socio-demographic and family details. The Rome IV criteria was translated and validated to be used for diagnosis of infant dyschezia. Study B: Randomly selected pediatricians were surveyed by using a questionnaire to evaluate their knowledge regarding infant dyschezia. RESULTS: The prevalence of infant dyschezia based on the result of this study was 11.8%. Three risk factors had a significant relationship with infant dyschezia i.e., the number of children in the family (odds ratio [OR], 5.619; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.194–14.390; p<0.001), complementary food diet (OR, 4.238; 95% CI, 1.902–9.443; p<0.001), and social-emotional disturbance (OR, 5.670; 95% CI, 2.550–12.609; p<0.001). The percentage of pediatricians correctly diagnosed infant dyschezia was 71.5%. Most pediatricians agreed that they did not perform any diagnostic testing (79.7%) and only provided education in cases of infant dyschezia (58.5%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of infant dyschezia identified in our study was higher than that in other neighboring Asian countries, with the highest prevalence observed in infants 7–9 months old. Being an only child, receiving complementary food diet, and sociao-emotional disturbances were significant risk factors of infant dyschezia.