TY - JOUR T1 - <span hwp:id="article-title-1" class="article-title">Review: high-quality evidence on the effectiveness of laxatives for functional constipation in children is limited</span><span hwp:id="article-title-2" class="sub-article-title">Commentary</span> JF - Evidence Based Nursing JO - Evid Based Nurs SP - 107 LP - 107 DO - 10.1136/ebn.12.4.107 VL - 12 IS - 4 AU - Gene Elizabeth Harkless Y1 - 2009/10/01 UR - http://ebn.bmj.com/content/12/4/107.abstract N2 - Are laxatives and dietary measures effective for functional constipation in children? Included studies compared osmotic, bulk-forming, stimulant or emollient laxatives, lubricating agents, or dietary measures with placebo, no treatment, or alternative treatments in children ⩽18 years of age who had functional constipation. Exclusion criteria included studies of children with psychiatric disease, organic constipation, exclusively non-retentive faecal incontinence, or mental handicap. Outcomes included treatment success (defined by individual studies) or defecation frequency. Medline and EMBASE/Excerpta Medica (to Dec 2007) and reference lists were searched for randomised controlled trials (RCTs), comparative clinical trials (CCTs), or crossover studies. 28 studies (n = 1912, duration of follow-up 2 d to 12 mo) met the selection criteria: … ER -