Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40044680›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2025

Prospective association of daily toothbrushing frequency and the prevalence of childhood functional constipation: the Japan Environment and Children's Study.

Masahiro Tsuchiya, Shinobu Tsuchiya, Haruki Momma, Ryoichi Nagatomi, Nobuo Yaegashi, Takahiro Arima, Chiharu Ota, Kaoru Igarashi, Yuichiro Miura, Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Masahiro TsuchiyaDepartment of Nursing, Tohoku Fukushi University, 6-149-1 Kunimi-ga-oka, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 981-3201, Japan. tsuchiya-thk@umin.ac.jp.
Shinobu TsuchiyaDivision of Craniofacial Anomalies, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan.
Haruki MommaDepartment of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan.
Ryoichi NagatomiDesigning Future Health Initiative, Promotion Office of Strategic Innovation, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan.
Nobuo YaegashiDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan.
Takahiro ArimaDepartment of Informative Genetics, Environment and Genome Research Center, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan.
Chiharu OtaDepartment of Development and Environmental Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan. chiharu.ota.e8@tohoku.ac.jp.
Kaoru IgarashiDivision of Craniofacial Anomalies, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan.
Yuichiro MiuraDepartment of Feto-Maternal Medical Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ward, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan.
Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Functional constipation is the most common gastrointestinal disorder during childhood. Oral stimulation (mastication and toothbrushing) reportedly improves bowel movements, but the association between daily toothbrushing behavior and functional constipation remains unknown. Data (n = 83,660) from fetal records (n = 104,059) in the Japan Environment and Children's Study, an ongoing prospective birth cohort, were analyzed to investigate the impact of daily toothbrushing frequency on functional constipation during childhood, using ROME III diagnostic criteria. After multiple imputations of data acquired from self-reported questionnaires, a multivariable binomial logistic regression analysis was used with adjustments for several maternal and child-related variables. Functional constipation was observed in 10,123 (12.1%) and 8,820 (10.5%) participants at 3 and 4 years postpartum, respectively. Using the appropriate frequency of daily toothbrushing (twice or more) as a reference, the odds of functional constipation increased with decreasing daily toothbrushing frequency after covariate adjustments involving daily feeding frequency. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for functional constipation in participants without daily toothbrushing behavior (less than once a day) at 4 years postpartum was 1.87 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34-2.61). Similarly, the adjusted OR (95% CI) for chronic functional constipation (at both 3 and 4 years postpartum) in participants without daily toothbrushing behavior (less than once a day) at 2 years postpartum was 1.62 (1.14-2.31). Functional constipation during childhood was associated with decreased daily toothbrushing frequency. Although the underlying mechanism of daily toothbrushing behavior in prompting bowel movements remains unclear, it is a major basis of self-health management in children that plays an important role in managing functional constipation.

Indexed as

ConstipationToothbrushingAdultChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantJapanMalePrevalenceProspective StudiesSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID40044680
PMCPMC11882968

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.