title: Rome III criteria in parents' hands: pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders in community children and associations with somatic complaints and mental health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine (a) the prevalence of Rome III abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders in a western community sample of children, (b) their associations with sociodemographic factors, and (c) whether children fulfilling Rome III abdominal pain diagnoses show higher rates of psychological distress and somatization.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from parents of 6-10-year-old children who were recruited from 22 public grammar schools in Germany. A total of 1537 questionnaires were included in the analysis. Abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders were diagnosed on the basis of questionnaire responses by Rome III criteria. Further, somatic complaints as well as emotional and behavioral problems were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 7.7% of children aged 6-10 years fulfilled the criteria for at least one Rome III abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorder according to their parents. The most prevalent diagnoses were irritable bowel syndrome (4.9%) and functional abdominal pain (2.0%). Assigned diagnoses were not associated with sociodemographic factors. We could confirm that abdominal pain-related functional disorders, especially irritable bowel syndrome, were strongly associated with somatization and emotional problems in community.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Rome III abdominal pain-related functional gastrointestinal disorders are a common health problem in children and are, even in community, strongly associated with other somatic complaints and psychological distress.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, University of Tübingen, Germany. marco-daniel.gulewitsch@uni-tuebingen.de
authors.forename: Marco D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gulewitsch
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Enck
authors.forename: Juliane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schwille-Kiuntke
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weimer
authors.forename: Angelika A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Schlarb
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D043183:Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*