title: Recurrent abdominal pain: symptom subtypes based on the Rome II Criteria for pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-3571, USA. Lynn.Walker@Vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Lynn S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Tricia A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Lipani
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Caines
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stutts
authors.forename: D Brent
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Polk
authors.forename: Arlene
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.forename: Andree
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rasquin-Weber
mesh_terms: 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