Pubertal Status Predicts Back Pain, Overtiredness, and Dizziness in American and Dutch Adolescents

Abstract

WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT:Functional somatic symptoms, such as overtiredness and pain, are more common in girls than in boys, and this difference tends to increase during adolescence. Whether this increase in gender difference can be explained by pubertal development is unclear. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:Two large cohort studies in the Netherlands and the United States revealed no significant gender differences in the association between pubertal development and functional somatic symptoms. Pubertal stage at baseline positively predicted back pain, overtiredness, and dizziness at follow-up. abstract OBJECTIVE: Functional somatic symptoms, symptoms for which no organic pathologic basis can be found, are more prevalent in girls than in boys, and this difference tends to increase during adolescence. This might be explained, at least in part, by pubertal development. We hypothesized that pubertal maturation predicts the development of most functional somatic symptoms and that this especially is true for girls. METHOD:We used 2 longitudinal population-based studies to examine our hypotheses: the Longitudinal Study of Pain in Adolescents in Seattle (n ϭ 1996 [49.7% girls]) and the Dutch Tracking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (n ϭ 2230 [51.0% girls]). Two assessment waves of each study were used. American adolescents were younger than Dutch adolescents at the first (11.6 vs 13.6) and second (14.5 vs 16.2) assessment waves, but they were in about the same pubertal development stage. Functional somatic symptoms were measured by pain questions, the Symptom Checklist-90, and the Youth Self-report. The Pubertal Development Scale was used to assess pubertal development on a continuous scale in both cohorts. RESULTS:Ordinal logistic regression analyses revealed that American and Dutch adolescents at a later pubertal status at baseline were more likely (odds ratios ranged from 1.24 to 1.61) to report back pain, overtiredness, and dizziness but not stomach pain and headache 2 to 3 years later. Although these relationships were not equally strong for boys and girls, no significant gender differences were found. CONCLUSIONS:Pubertal status predicted the frequency of some, but not all, functional somatic symptoms at follow-up. Pediatrics 2011;128: 553-559

Neurologic morbidity and quality of life in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a prospective cross-sectional study

“…We found neuropathy to be less prevalent than that reported by Ramchandren et al but they had only 37 ALL survivors in their cohort [28]. Dizziness in our cohort was more prevalent compared to CCSS but not much different to otherwise healthy children [29]. However, persistent dizziness of 5 % is similar to the 3.5 % reported by CCSS.…”

“…However, persistent dizziness of 5 % is similar to the 3.5 % reported by CCSS. Finally, back pain was not related to weight of the back pack, was more common in our cohort when compared to healthy children [29], but much less than that reported in ALL survivors (23 versus 44 %) by Bowers et al [30]. Eligibility criteria were similar in both studies, but their cohort included 99 survivors, questionnaire was self-administered, and there was no physician contact.…”

Life events and functional somatic symptoms: A population study in older adolescents

“…Functional somatic symptoms (FSSs), that is bodily symptoms not well explained by an underlying disease, are common in adolescents and can cause substantial impairments (King et al, 2011;Konijnenberg et al, 2005). Around 25% of all adolescents report FSSs during adolescence (Janssens et al, 2011;van Geelen, Rydelius, & Hagquist, 2015). Although the occurrence of functional symptoms declines from childhood up to adulthood, chronic complaints seem to increase with age (King et al, 2011;van Geelen et al, 2015).…”

The prospective association between childhood cognitive ability and somatic symptoms and syndromes in adulthood: the 1958 British birth cohort

“…FSS are common both in childhood2 3 and adulthood,4 5 and can be functionally impairing 6 7. The aetiology of FSS is poorly understood, but FSS are known to result from multifactorial processes, including complex interactions between biological, psychological and social vulnerability factors 8–10.…”