Physiotherapy plus conventional treatment versus conventional treatment only in the treatment of functional constipation in children: design of a randomized controlled trial and cost-effectiveness study in primary care

Table 2 Characteristics of participants and non-participants

	Participants (N = 134)	Non-participants (N = 90)
Age (mean, SD)	7.5 ± 3.46	8.23 ± 3.80^a
Gender (% girls)	61.2	60.0^a
Referred to study by:
- GP (incident case), (n, %)	22 (17%)	22 (24%)
- Pediatrician (incident case), (n, %)	6 (4%)	5 (6%)
- GP (prevalent case), (n, %)	106 (79%)	63 (70%)
Chronicity of symptoms before randomization ^{b, c}
-Yes (n, %)	67 (65%)	16 (43%)
-No (n, %)	36 (35%)	21 (57%)

GP General practitioner, SD standard deviation
^a Age and gender were not available of 19 non-participants
^b Comparison of chronicity of symptoms between participants and non-participants, was only performed for prevalent cases in whom the question about chronicity was asked (participants n = 103, non-participants n = 37)
^c Symptom chronicity was defined as continuous or regular laxative use (≥3 periods) in the 12 months before inclusion

ISSN: 1471-2431