An epidemiological survey of recurrent abdominal pain in a rural Malay school.
OBJECTIVE
To study the prevalence of complaints of recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) among school children aged 11-12 years in a rural setting in Malaysia.


METHODS
Questionnaires were distributed to all parents and teachers of children aged 11-12 years who attended a small rural school in which all the children were Malays. Complaints of RAP were defined as at least three such complaints occurring over a period of at least 3 months.


RESULTS
One hundred and sixty questionnaires were distributed, of which 148 were returned, giving a response rate of 92.5%. Sixty-one children (41.2%) had RAP. Approximately 45.2% of girls and 35.9% of boys reported having RAP. Compared with children without RAP, there was a significantly larger number of children with RAP (85.2%) who had at least one stress factor (P = 0.0109). There were no significant associations between RAP and total family income (P = 0.0573), a history of abdominal pain in at least one parent (P = 0.1686), a history of abdominal pain in at least one sibling (P = 0.0617), academic performance (P = 0.9967) or the degree of sports participation (P = 0.8469). There was an increased incidence of other systemic complaints in children with RAP when compared with children without RAP.


CONCLUSIONS
Recurrent abdominal pain was found to be common among 11- to 12-year-old children in a rural Malay school. There was a significant association found between RAP and the presence of stressful events, as well as with the presence of other systemic complaints.
Department of Paediatrics, University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. boeycm@medicine.med.um.edu.my
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D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications