Recurrent abdominal pain: symptom subtypes based on the Rome II Criteria for pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders.
OBJECTIVE
Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a common childhood complaint rarely associated with organic disease. Recently, the Pediatric Rome Criteria were developed to standardize the classification of pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) using a symptom-based approach. The authors tested the hypothesis that most patients with childhood RAP could be classified into one or more of the symptom subtypes defined by the Pediatric Rome Criteria.


METHODS
Using a prospective longitudinal design, new patients with RAP (n = 114) were studied at a tertiary care children's medical center. Before the medical evaluation, parents completed a questionnaire about their child, assessing symptoms defined by the Pediatric Rome Criteria.


RESULTS
Of the 107 children for whom medical evaluation revealed no organic etiology for pain, 73% had symptom profiles consistent with the Pediatric Rome Criteria for one of the FGIDs associated with abdominal pain (irritable bowel syndrome, 44.9%; functional dyspepsia,15.9%; functional abdominal pain, 7.5%; abdominal migraine, 4.7%)


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides the first systematic empirical evidence that RAP, originally defined by Apley, includes children whose symptoms are consistent with the symptom criteria for several FGIDs defined by the Rome criteria. The pediatric Rome criteria may be useful in clinical research to (1) describe the symptom characteristics of research participants who meet Apley's broad criteria for RAP, and (2) select patients with particular symptom profiles for investigation of potential biologic and psychosocial mechanisms associated with pediatric FGIDs.
Walker
Lynn S
LS
Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-3571, USA. Lynn.Walker@Vanderbilt.edu
Lipani
Tricia A
TA
Greene
John W
JW
Caines
Karen
K
Stutts
John
J
Polk
D Brent
DB
Caplan
Arlene
A
Rasquin-Weber
Andree
A
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires