Health-related quality of life in children with abdominal pain due to functional or organic gastrointestinal disorders.
OBJECTIVE
Comparing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in children suffering from functional and organic gastrointestinal disorders and to identify predictors for HRQOL.


METHODS
Children with functional (n = 70) and organic (n = 100) gastrointestinal disorders, aged 8-18 years and referred to a pediatric gastroenterologist, completed questionnaires assessing pain severity, coping, and HRQOL.


RESULTS
The sample reported low HRQOL scores, even significantly lower compared with reference values of chronically ill children, derived from normative data of KINDL-R, a generic QOL questionnaire. HRQOL was not significantly associated with age, gender, duration of pain, and diagnosis (functional gastrointestinal disorder vs. organic gastrointestinal disorder). Pain severity and catastrophizing were significantly associated with HRQOL, with catastrophizing fully mediating the relationship between pain and HRQOL.


CONCLUSIONS
The emotional burden associated with chronic abdominal pain-regardless of its cause-is enormous. Interventions should target the children's coping strategies, as catastrophizing seems to be the causal link between pain and HRQOL.
Counseling Psychology, Department of Psychology, Potsdam University, Karl- Liebknecht- Str. 24/25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany. warschb@uni-potsdam.de.
Petra
P
Warschburger
Johanna
J
Hänig
Michael
M
Friedt
Carsten
C
Posovszky
Maike
M
Schier
Claudia
C
Calvano
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D058443:Catastrophization / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
abdominal pain; catastrophizing; chronic illness; coping; quality of life