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. 2014 Jan-Feb;39(1):45-54.
doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jst070. Epub 2013 Sep 20.

Health-related quality of life in children with abdominal pain due to functional or organic gastrointestinal disorders

Petra Warschburger  1 , Johanna Hänig, Michael Friedt, Carsten Posovszky, Maike Schier, Claudia Calvano
Affiliations

Health-related quality of life in children with abdominal pain due to functional or organic gastrointestinal disorders

Petra Warschburger et al. J Pediatr Psychol. 2014 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Objective: Comparing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children suffering from functional and organic gastrointestinal disorders and to identify predictors for HRQOL.

Methods: Children with functional (n = 70) and organic (n = 100) gastrointestinal disorders, aged 8-18 years and referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist, completed questionnaires assessing pain severity, coping, and HRQOL.

Results: The sample reported low HRQOL scores, even significantly lower compared with reference values of chronically ill children, derived from normative data of KINDL-R, a generic QOL questionnaire. HRQOL was not significantly associated with age, gender, duration of pain, and diagnosis (functional gastrointestinal disorder vs. organic gastrointestinal disorder). Pain severity and catastrophizing were significantly associated with HRQOL, with catastrophizing fully mediating the relationship between pain and HRQOL.

Conclusion: The emotional burden associated with chronic abdominal pain-regardless of its cause-is enormous. Interventions should target the children's coping strategies, as catastrophizing seems to be the causal link between pain and HRQOL.

Keywords: abdominal pain; catastrophizing; chronic illness; coping; quality of life.

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