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. 2012 Jun;30(2):114-20.
doi: 10.3109/02813432.2012.675561.

The course of mental health problems in children presenting with abdominal pain in general practice

Marieke J Gieteling  1 , Yvonne Lisman-van Leeuwen, Jan Passchier, Bart W Koes, Marjolein Y Berger
Affiliations

The course of mental health problems in children presenting with abdominal pain in general practice

Marieke J Gieteling et al. Scand J Prim Health Care. 2012 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the course of mental health problems in children presenting to general practice with abdominal pain and to evaluate the extent to which abdominal pain characteristics during follow-up predict the presence of mental health problems at 12 months' follow-up.

Design: A prospective cohort study with one-year follow-up.

Setting: 53 general practices in the Netherlands, between May 2004 and March 2006.

Subjects: 281 children aged 4-17 years.

Main outcome measures: The presence of a depressive problem, an anxiety problem, and multiple non-specific somatic symptoms at follow-up and odds ratios of duration, frequency, and severity of abdominal pain with these mental health problems at follow-up.

Results: A depressive problem persisted in 24/74 children (32.9%; 95% CI 22.3-44.9%), an anxiety problem in 13/43 (30.2%; 95% CI 17.2-46.1%) and the presence of multiple non-specific somatic symptoms in 75/170 children (44.1%; 95% CI 36.7-51.6%). None of the abdominal pain characteristics predicted a depressive or an anxiety problem at 12 months' follow-up. More moments of moderate to severe abdominal pain predicted the presence of multiple non-specific somatic symptoms at follow-up.

Conclusions: In one-third of the children presenting to general practice for abdominal pain, anxiety and depressive problems persist during one year of follow-up. Characteristics of the abdominal pain during the follow-up period do not predict anxiety or depressive problems after one-year follow-up. We recommend following over time children seen in primary care with abdominal pain.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Patient flow-chart.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Course of mental health problems.
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