title: Association between functional gastrointestinal diseases and exposure to abuse in teenagers.
abstract: Abdominal pain-predominant functional gastrointestinal diseases (AP-FGD) are common in children and commonly attributed to exposure to child abuse. However, this relationship has not been studied in teenagers, and the main objective of the current study was to assess it. Teenagers were recruited from four randomly selected schools in Western province of Sri Lanka. Data were collected using a validated self-administered questionnaire. AP-FGD were diagnosed using Rome III criteria. A total of 1850 teenagers aged 13-18 years were included. Three hundred and five (16.5%) had AP-FGD. AP-FGD were significantly higher in those exposed to sexual (34.0%), emotional (25.0%) and physical (20.2%) abuse, than in those not abused (13.0%, p < 0.001). Those with AP-FGD exposed to abuse had a higher severity score for bowel symptoms (30.8% vs. 24.7% in not abused, p < 0.05). This study highlights the importance of identifying exposure to abuse in management of teenagers with AP-FGD.
authors: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, Ragama 11010, Sri Lanka niranga@kln.ac.lk niranga1230@lycos.com.
authors: Niranga Manjuri
authors: NM
authors: Devanarayana
authors: Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, Ragama 11010, Sri Lanka.
authors: Shaman
authors: S
authors: Rajindrajith
authors: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, Ragama 11010, Sri Lanka.
authors: Madushanka S
authors: MS
authors: Perera
authors: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, Thalagolla Road, Ragama 11010, Sri Lanka.
authors: Samudu W
authors: SW
authors: Nishanthanie
authors: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Karapitiya, Galle 80000, Sri Lanka.
authors: Amaranath
authors: A
authors: Karunanayake
authors: Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Emma Children's Hospital, Academic Medical Centre, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Marc A
authors: MA
authors: Benninga
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D000293:Adolescent; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003248:Constipation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: abdominal pain; abuse; child; functional gastrointestinal disorder; somatization