Abstract
BackgroundGastrointestinal (GI) disorders are ranked first amongst medical diseases as a trigger of requests for mental health counselling. Child abuse has been regarded as one of the main causes of the development of functional abdominal pain (FAP) in children. This study aimed, therefore, to compare the prevalence of child abuse experience among two groups of patients with and without FAP.MethodsA case-control study of children in Arak, Iran, in which experience of child abuse was compared in children with (n = 100) and without functional abdominal pain (n = 100). Three categories of child abuse - emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect - were assessed using the Child Abuse Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using Stata software.ResultsAfter adjusting for potential confounders, there were group differences in emotional abuse (96% vs. 81%, aOR = 5.13, 95% CI: 1.3–20.3, p = 0.017), neglect (28% vs. 8%, aOR = 4.27, 95% CI: 1.8–11.8, p = 0.001) and total child abuse score (98% vs. 84%, aOR = 8.2, 95% CI: 1.5–43.8, p = 0.014) but not in physical abuse (57% vs. 46%, aOR = 1.47, 95% CI: 0.81–2.60, p = 0.728).ConclusionsAs the prevalence of child abuse is higher in patients with FAP, child abuse appears to be related to the occurrence of FAP in children. However, the results of this study cannot be generalized to Iranian society generally and further longitudinal studies are recommended.
Highlights
Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are ranked first amongst medical diseases as a trigger of requests for mental health counselling
In another study, the findings suggested that there was an association between irritable bowel syndrome in adults and a history of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse [20]
Given the extant evidence on the role of stress in functional GI disorders, stress, anxiety and other psychological consequences of child abuse and neglect, lack of valid information, and the inconsistency between the findings of different studies, this study aimed to compare the prevalence of emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect experience among two groups of patients with and without functional abdominal pain (FAP)
Summary
Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders are ranked first amongst medical diseases as a trigger of requests for mental health counselling. Child abuse has been regarded as one of the main causes of the development of functional abdominal pain (FAP) in children. Chronic or functional abdominal pain (FAP) is one of the most common physical complaints in children [1,2,3,4,5], causing prolonged absence from kindergarten and school, parental anxiety, frequent medical referrals and numerous diagnostic procedures that impose significant costs on the family and the health system. Functional gastrointestinal (GI) diseases are the most common cause of chronic abdominal pain in children. FAP is a description of symptoms rather than a specific diagnosis and is defined as abdominal pain in children without serologic, mucosal, radiographic or structural evidence of disease [6, 7]. The worldwide prevalence of FAP was 13.5% (range: 1.6–41.2%), with
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