<p>National Prevalence of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in Jordanian Children</p>

Abstract

Introduction: Functional gastrointestinal disorders are common in children. After the introduction of Rome criteria for diagnosis, assessment of prevalence of such disorders became an attainable goal. Since data from our part of the world are scarce, this study aimed at estimating the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in Jordanian children. Patients and Methods: In a school-based cross-sectional study, recruited children between the age of 4 and 18 were asked to fill the Arabic version of the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms-Rome III Version (QPGS-RIII). Patients were identified based on meeting the ROME III criteria. Results: Of 2000 children that were recruited, 1587 (79.4%) returned completed questionnaires. Males accounted for 841 (53%) of participants. Mean age was 10.2 years (range, 4 to 18 years). A total of 815 (51.4%) of participants were younger group (4 to 10 years of age), mean ± SD age of the two age groups was 8.1 ± 1.4 and 14.0 ± 1.8 years, respectively. Overall, 514 (32.4%) children met the criteria for having at least one FGID. The most common FGIDs in Jordanian children were functional constipation, followed by Aerophagia, abdominal migraine, and irritable bowel syndrome (prevalence estimates of 16.0%, 7.0%, 5.1%, and 3.6%, respectively). FGIDs were more common in younger girls and older boys but were not statistically significant. Concomitant presence of more than one FGID was observed in almost 15% and 22% of younger and older age groups, respectively. Conclusion: Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are common in Jordanian school children. Functional constipation is the most common disorder. Further studies investigating the predisposing factors in our population are needed.

Benefits of dietary fibre for children in health and disease

“…FGIDs encompass a range of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract including infant regurgitation, infant rumination, cyclic vomiting syndrome, infant colic, functional diarrhoea, infant dyschezia and functional constipation in neonates and toddlers, functional nausea and vomiting disorders, functional abdominal pain disorders and functional defecation disorders in children and adolescents 50 51. Studies suggest that between 20% and 32% of children have an FGID 52 53. FGIDs in children are associated with reduced quality of life as well as reduced physical, social and emotional functioning and time lost at school 54.…”

“… 50 51 Studies suggest that between 20% and 32% of children have an FGID. 52 53 FGIDs in children are associated with reduced quality of life as well as reduced physical, social and emotional functioning and time lost at school. 54 Outcomes for children with FGIDs are poor; almost half will continue to experience symptoms for several years after their initial diagnosis and around one in four will still be living with symptoms into adulthood.…”

A Narrative Review on the Update in the Prevalence of Infantile Colic, Regurgitation, and Constipation in Young Children: Implications of the ROME IV Criteria

“…Other studies collected data through surveys among caregivers (mostly mothers). There were two studies (16%) from the Middle East ( 11 , 15 ), three (25%) from Asia ( 10 , 13 , 16 ), two (16%) from the USA ( 14 , 17 ), three (25 %) from Europe and one (8%) from Africa ( 9 ).…”

“…Among the seven studies reporting the prevalence of regurgitation, one (14%) used the Infant Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Questionnaire Revised (I-GERQ-R) (19), two (28%) used the ROME III criteria (4,14) and three (42%) used the ROME IV criteria (10,13,18) and one (14%) used both the ROME III and IV criteria (17). Among the twelve studies reporting the prevalence of constipation, six (50%) used the ROME III criteria (4,11,(14)(15)(16)20), five (42%) applied the ROME IV criteria (9, 10, 13, 18), and one (8%) used both the ROME III and ROME IV criteria (17).…”

Rumination Syndrome in Children and Adolescents: A Mini Review

“…Most prevalence estimates have resulted from general population studies, often performed in schools [ (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27); see Table 1]. Estimates are available from countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.…”