Prevalence and pattern of childhood abdominal pain in an Australian general practice

Rc, Huang; Palmer, Lyle J.; Forbes, DA

doi:10.1046/j.1440-1754.2000.00513.x

Cited by 57 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Recurrent abdominal pain was found to be associated with major negative life events, 47 daily stressors, 51 anxiety, 52 and sleep disturbances. 53 This study is unable to clarify the reasons for the increase in prevalence, but it seems evident that children's living environments and lifestyles were less favorable in this respect in 1999 than in 1989. An alarming finding was that, even in cases in which a child reported having headaches or abdominal pain almost daily, many parents (14% for headaches and 30% for abdominal pain) reported that their child never had these symptoms.…”

Section: E438mentioning

confidence: 88%

Have There Been Changes in Children's Psychosomatic Symptoms? A 10-Year Comparison From Finland

et al. 2005

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ABSTRACT. Objectives. The aims of the study were to determine whether the prevalence of children's somatic symptoms, such as headache, abdominal pain, other pain, and nausea and vomiting, changed from 1989 to 1999 and to study the similarity of parents' and children's reports of the child's symptoms. Furthermore, the aims were to explore possible comorbidity in somatic symptoms and to investigate the associations between somatic and psychiatric symptoms.Methods. Two cross-sectional, representative samples were compared. All children born in 1981 (1989 sample, n ‫؍‬ 985) and 1991 (1999 sample, n ‫؍‬ 962) and living in selected school districts in southwest Finland served as study samples. The response rate for the 1989 sample was 95% and that for the 1999 sample was 86%. Both children and parents were asked about the children's somatic symptoms, whereas parents, children, and teachers were asked about psychiatric symptoms. To study psychiatric symptoms, the Children's Depression Inventory and Rutter's parent and teacher scales were used.Results. The prevalence of frequent headaches and abdominal pain increased somewhat from 1989 to 1999. Parents often failed to recognize their children's psychosomatic problems. Child-reported somatic symptoms were associated with conduct and hyperactivity symptoms, in addition to a previously well-documented association with depression. In associations between somatic symptoms and psychiatric symptoms, there were some differences between the 1989 and 1999 samples.Conclusions. In clinical work, questions about somatic and psychiatric symptoms should also be addressed to children themselves, because parents and teachers do not always recognize children's symptoms. When somatic problems are being evaluated, psychiatric symptoms should be asked about, and vice versa. More research is needed to explore the reasons for the increased prevalence of somatic symptoms and their associations with psychiatric symptoms. Pediatrics 2005; 115:e434-e442. URL: www.pediatrics.org/cgi

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Section: E438mentioning

confidence: 88%

Have There Been Changes in Children's Psychosomatic Symptoms? A 10-Year Comparison From Finland

et al. 2005

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“…[10][11][12][13] Still, research on consultation patterns for pediatric FSS remains scarce. The prevailing research data indicate that even though many parents cope with their child' s symptoms without resorting to medical care, [14][15][16] children' s use of general practitioner services has increased in particular in North European countries. 17 Suggested explanations for this trend include higher parental awareness and increases in both chronic disease and FSS among children in general.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This percentage corresponds to percentages reported in other population-based studies on children and adolescents with chronic benign (ie, functional) pain. 14,30 Three patterns of factors associated with medical consultations due to FSS in children aged 5 to 7 years were seen. First, consulters more often had parents who both were not native Danish compared with nonconsulters.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Somatic Symptoms and Consultation Patterns in 5- to 7-Year-Olds

et al. 2013

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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the frequency of and factors linked to medical consultation for functional somatic symptoms (FSS) among 5- to 7-year-old children. METHODS: We assessed 1327 children from the Copenhagen Child Cohort 2000 for FSS at ages 5 to 7 years. Register data on past health care use in general practice were compared between children with and those without parent-reported medical consultation for FSS at the age of 5 to 7 years: respective consulters (n = 96) and nonconsulters (n = 211) and children without FSS (n = 1019). Degree of parental worries about the child’s symptoms and parent-reported symptom characteristics and associated impacts were compared between consulters and nonconsulters. RESULTS: Among 308 children with FSS, 31.1% were consulters. Being a consulter was significantly associated with multisymptomatic presentation, parental worries about the symptoms, symptom impact, and a higher past health care use in general practice. Multiple logistic regression analysis controlled for gender, comorbid physical disease, and symptom severity revealed that the number of face-to-face contacts in general practice during the child’s first 4 years of life predicted being an consulter for FSS at 5 to 7 years (odds ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 1.00–1.06; odds ratio interpreted per unit change in number of contacts). CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to our understanding of health care use for FSS in childhood by highlighting the influence of parents’ early consultation patterns with their child and the influence of parental perceptions of their child’s health and FSS-related impact on pediatric health care use for FSS. Management of health care use in children with FSS should address these aspects.

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“…A retrospective study in an Australian general practice among children in the waiting room reported that 44% of the children experienced abdominal pain in the preceding 12 months, of whom 12% experienced abdominal pain at least once each month. 17 Our research group recently showed that primary care physicians are routinely confronted with children with abdominal pain. 2 Thus, data on the prevalence and incidence of CAP among children visiting primary care with abdominal pain are valuable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prognosis of Abdominal Pain in Children in Primary Care--A Prospective Cohort Study

Leeuwen

Spee

Benninga

et al. 2013

The Annals of Family Medicine

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PURPOSE Abdominal pain is a common complaint in children. Because few data exist on its natural history, we wanted to investigate the prognosis of abdominal pain in children in general practice. METHODSIn a prospective cohort study of children (aged 4 to 17 years) complaining of abdominal pain, follow-up was at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months using standardized questionnaires. The primary outcome measure was chronic abdominal pain: abdominal pain at least 1 time a month during at least 3 consecutive months that had an impact on daily activities. Prevalence, incidence, and duration of chronic abdominal pain were assessed.RESULTS Three hundred fi ve children (116 boys, 189 girls), with a median age of 7.8 years (interquartile range [IQR] = 5.7-10.5 years) were included. Chronic abdominal pain was present in 142 (46.6%) children at an initial visit to the primary care physician for this complaint. During follow-up, 78.7% fulfi lled the criteria for chronic abdominal pain at 1 or more follow-up points. Among 163 children at risk for developing chronic abdominal pain, the cumulative incidence of chronic abdominal pain was 60.1% (95% CI, 52.1%-67.7%) and was higher in girls than in boys (RR = 1.23; 95% CI, 0.94-1.61). Median duration of abdominal pain was 7.5 months (IQR = 4.5-12.0 months). Children aged 10 to 17 years had the longest duration of abdominal pain (median = 9.0 months; IQR = 7.5-12.4 months). Children with symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome seemed to have a less favorable prognosis compared with children with symptoms of functional dyspepsia or functional abdominal pain. CONCLUSIONSThe presence and development of chronic abdominal pain is common and of long duration among children consulting in primary care for abdominal pain. These poor outcome data warrant follow-up.

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Prevalence and pattern of childhood abdominal pain in an Australian general practice

Cited by 57 publications

References 24 publications

Have There Been Changes in Children's Psychosomatic Symptoms? A 10-Year Comparison From Finland

Have There Been Changes in Children's Psychosomatic Symptoms? A 10-Year Comparison From Finland

Functional Somatic Symptoms and Consultation Patterns in 5- to 7-Year-Olds

Prognosis of Abdominal Pain in Children in Primary Care--A Prospective Cohort Study

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