Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Children's Memorial Hospital, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2012 Dec;55(6):707-10. doi: 10.1097/MPG.0b013e3182662401.
Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are common in children. Abdominal pain (AP) is the most common gastrointestinal (GI) symptom in children. The severity of AP drives medical consultations and quality of life in adult patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Thirty-eight percent of 8- to 15-year-old schoolchildren report AP weekly with 24% of those children reporting persistence of AP >8 weeks. Despite the high prevalence of AP, only 2% of school children seek medical attention for AP. Lack of parental knowledge on their child's symptoms may constitute one of the factors affecting the low ratio of consultation in children reporting AP. The aim was to assess parental reports of AP symptoms in a population of healthy community children.
Data of 5 studies with identical methodology to assess GI symptoms in children with celiac disease (CD), cow's milk allergy (CMA), pyloric stenosis (PS), Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP), and stem cell transplant (SC) and their healthy siblings were reviewed: a phone questionnaire on GI symptoms and Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rome III version questionnaire (QPGS-RIII). Inclusion criteria were healthy children 4 to 18 years of age with a sibling previously diagnosed with CD, CMA, PS, HSP, or SC.
Data on 246 healthy children, mean age (9.8 years, range 3-24, 112 girls) were obtained. Parents reported presence of AP in the last 8 weeks before the telephone contact in 20 (8.1%) children (age range 4-18 years, 11 girls). There was no significant difference in AP prevalence between boys and girls (P = 0.64). Six children (2.4%) met QPGS-RIII diagnostic criteria for FGIDs: 3 functional abdominal pain (FAP) and 3 IBS.
AP was common in community children. FAP was the most common FGID among healthy community children. The prevalence of AP by parental report is lower than the previously published prevalence of AP reported by children. Lack of awareness of children's symptoms may play a role in the low ratio of consultation for AP in symptomatic children. Future prospective studies should confirm our findings and investigate the factors influencing the medical consultation decision including parental awareness of children's symptoms.
功能性胃肠疾病（FGIDs）在儿童中很常见。腹痛（AP）是儿童最常见的胃肠道（GI）症状。AP 的严重程度会影响成年 IBS 患者的就诊次数和生活质量。8-15 岁的学龄儿童中，每周有 38%报告有 AP，其中 24%的儿童报告 AP 持续>8 周。尽管 AP 的患病率很高，但只有 2%的学龄儿童因 AP 就诊。父母对孩子症状的了解不足可能是影响报告 AP 的儿童就诊率低的因素之一。本研究旨在评估社区健康儿童中父母对 AP 症状的报告。
对 5 项研究的数据进行了回顾，这些研究采用了相同的方法来评估乳糜泻（CD）、牛奶过敏（CMA）、幽门狭窄（PS）、过敏性紫癜（HSP）和干细胞移植（SC）患儿的胃肠道症状及其健康兄弟姐妹的胃肠道症状：GI 症状的电话问卷和儿科胃肠道症状罗马 III 版问卷（QPGS-RIII）。纳入标准为 4-18 岁的健康儿童，其兄弟姐妹曾被诊断为 CD、CMA、PS、HSP 或 SC。
共获得 246 名健康儿童的数据，平均年龄（9.8 岁，范围 3-24 岁，112 名女孩）。在电话联系前的最后 8 周内，父母报告有 20 名（8.1%，年龄 4-18 岁，11 名女孩）儿童出现 AP。男孩和女孩的 AP 患病率无显著差异（P=0.64）。6 名儿童（2.4%）符合 FGIDs 的 QPGS-RIII 诊断标准：3 例功能性腹痛（FAP）和 3 例 IBS。
AP 在社区儿童中很常见。FAP 是社区健康儿童中最常见的 FGID。父母报告的 AP 患病率低于先前报道的儿童 AP 患病率。儿童症状意识不足可能是症状性儿童就诊率低的原因之一。未来的前瞻性研究应证实我们的发现，并调查影响医疗咨询决策的因素，包括父母对儿童症状的认识。
