Hospital admissions for abdominal pain in childhood.
From January to March 1980, a consecutive sample of 50 children admitted to hospital with acute abdominal pain provisionally diagnosed as appendicitis but who recovered spontaneously without a specific physical diagnosis was studied. The instruments used were a standardized parental interview and Rutter A(2) and B(2) questionnaires which are designed as screening devices to explore levels of emotional adjustment in children. A comparison was made with 43 children (controls) matched for sex and age from the same schools. Forty children suffering from acute appendicitis were studied in the same way. A significantly increased number of children in the nonspecific group obtained abnormal scores on the Rutter Scales compared with the control group (P less than 0.025). An unexpectedly large number (31%) of boys suffering from acute appendicitis obtained abnormal scores on the Rutter Scales. Postal follow up three months following discharge from hospital indicated that 8 (16%) of the nonspecific group were incapacitated to the extent of missing school. During the study, 15 children had a normal appendix removed at operation. Seven of them showed a significant degree of maladjustment.
D000005:Abdomen; D000006:Abdomen, Acute / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D012737:Sex Factors