WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT: Pediatric functional abdominal pain is common and costly. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a promising treatment for these complaints, but solid evidence for its effectiveness is lacking. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:This randomized controlled trial shows that CBT reduces abdominal pain in 60% of children 1 year after treatment. Six sessions of CBT delivered by trained master' s students in psychology were equally effective as 6 visits to an experienced pediatrician. abstract OBJECTIVE: This randomized controlled trial investigated the effectiveness of a 6-session protocolized cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) compared with 6 visits to a pediatrician (intensive medical care; IMC) for the treatment of pediatric functional abdominal pain (FAP). METHODS:One hundred four children aged 7 to 18 were randomized to CBT or IMC. CBT was delivered primarily by trained master' s degree students in psychology; IMC was delivered by pediatricians or pediatric gastroenterologists. Assessments were performed pretreatment, posttreatment, and at 6-and 12-month follow-up. Primary outcomes were level of abdominal pain (AP) as reported on questionnaires and diaries. Secondary outcomes were other gastrointestinal complaints, functional disability, other somatic complaints, anxiety, depression, and quality of life.RESULTS: Both CBT and IMC resulted in a significant decrease in AP (P , .001), but no significant difference was found between the treatments in their effectiveness (P . .05 for all end points). According to the questionnaire-derived data, 1 year after treatment, 60% of children that received CBT had significantly improved or recovered, versus 56.4% of children receiving IMC, which did not significantly differ (P = .47). These percentages were 65.8% versus 62.8% according to the diary-derived data, which also did not significantly differ (P = .14). Additionally, nearly all secondary outcomes improved after treatment.CONCLUSIONS: CBT was equally effective as IMC in reducing AP in children with FAP. More research into the specific working mechanisms of CBT for pediatric FAP is needed.
Aim: To examine which response options children prefer and which they find easiest to use, and to study the relative reliability of the different response options. Methods: A consecutive group of unselected children (n= 120) filled out three questionnaires in a paediatric outpatient clinic. Each questionnaire included seven similar questions, but had different response options: the Likert scale, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the numeric VAS. In general, the questions were not related to the children's particular diseases, but dealt with the frequency of simple activities, their feelings and opinions. The pages with the three different response options were offered in random order. Afterwards, the children rated their preference and ease of use of the different response options on a scale from one to 10. Results: Children preferred the Likert scale (median mark 9.0) over the numeric VAS (median mark 8.0) and the simple VAS (median 6.0). They considered the Likert scale easiest to fill out (median mark 10 vs 9 and 7.5 for the numeric and simple VAS, respectively). Results of the different response options correlated strongly with each other (rho = 0.67–0.90, p < 0.05).Conclusion: Children prefer the Likert scale over the numeric and simple VAS and find it easiest to complete. The Likert scale, the simple VAS and the numeric VAS are of comparable reliability. The Likert scale is recommended for use in questionnaires for children, although research into larger and more diverse samples is needed.
Antibodies are essential in host defense against Neisseria meningitidis. Therefore, interactions among IgG and Fc receptors (Fc gamma R) on phagocytes may be crucial. Genetic polymorphic forms of Fc gamma RIIa (CD32) express different functional activities. In a retrospective study, Fc gamma R polymorphisms were determined in 25 children who survived fulminant meningococcal septic shock: 11 had Fc gamma RIIa-R/R131, the poor IgG2-binding allotype, which is a significantly more frequent rate than found in a healthy white population (44% vs. 23%; P = .028; odds ratio = 2.67; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-6.53). The relevance of this finding was further supported by the fact that neutrophils with the Fc gamma RIIa-R/R131 allotype phagocytized N. meningitidis opsonized with polyclonal IgG2 antibodies less effectively than did IIa-H/H131 neutrophils. Our findings suggest an important role for anti-N. meningitidis IgG2 and the Fc gamma RIIa polymorphism in host defense against systemic meningococcal infections.
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