Constipation in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Associated with Increased Emergency Department Visits and Inpatient Admissions

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate whether constipation in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with increased emergency department (ED) visits and inpatient admissions compared with constipation in children without ASD.

Study design: The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample was used to retrospectively examine demographic data, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of children with ASD and children without ASD who visited the ED for constipation between 2006 and 2014.

Results: ED visits by children with ASD were more likely to be constipation-related compared with visits by children with other chronic conditions or children with no chronic conditions (1.9% vs 0.6% vs 0.9%; P < .001). Children with ASD were more likely than children with other chronic conditions or no chronic conditions to be admitted to the hospital after an ED visit for constipation (15.0% vs 10.6% vs 1.2%; P < .001). Hospital charges were higher in children with ASD than in those without chronic conditions.

Conclusions: Constipation is responsible for a large proportion of ED visits and more inpatient admissions resulting from these ED visits. These findings suggest a need for developing more effective outpatient therapies for constipation in children with ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; constipation; emergency department.