CHRONIC PAIN

Prevalence of Chronic Abdominal Pain in Children

Table of Contents

Abstract3

Introduction4

Literature Review6

General Overview of Chronic Pain6

Factors Associated with Chronic Abdominal Pain in Children7

Impact of Stress on Health7

Impact of Stress on Chronic Abdominal Pain Patients8

Research Question9

Methodology9

Sample10

Proposed data collection10

Ethical issues11

Proposed data analysis11

Proposed dissemination of outcomes12

Timescale and costs12

Future Prospects13

References14

Appendix16

Abstract

Chronic abdominal pain, termed as long-lasting occurring at irregular intervals or continuous abdominal pain is a widespread paediatric issue faced by medical subspecialists. Chronic abdominal pain in children is typically functional in nature means it occurs with no obvious ground of any fundamental organic disorder. The intention of this study is to examine the prevalence of chronic abdominal pain in young children and the associated stress and anxiety with the CAP. Chronic abdominal pain (CAP) is a sort of chronic pain frequent in children. 10-15 % of young children experience this type of chronic pain. Stress has been accounted to affect the experience of CAP by heightening emotional distress and physical problems. This study is based on a comprehensive and systematic analysis and evaluation of the medical literature.

Prevalence of Chronic Abdominal Pain in Children

Introduction

The exact prevalence of chronic abdominal pain in children is unknown. It appears to account for 2% to 4% of all paediatric office visits. (Starfield B et. al., 1984, pp. 992-994) In Western countries, the prevalence of recurring abdominal pain in school-aged children varies from 0.3 to 19%. (Chitkara DK, Rawat DJ, Talley, 2005 pp.1868-70) Abdominal pain in children in the Netherlands is accountable for 2.5% of all childhood consultations in primary care and the rate of prevalence is 63 per 1000 registered children for a year. (Westert et. al., 2005, pp. 60-62) According to a study, weekly abdominal pain is experienced by 13% of middle-school students and 17% of high-school students. (Hyams JS, et. al., 1996, pp. 220- 223) Another study also revealed that physicians were consulted by approximately 8% of all students for the evaluation of abdominal pain in the previous year. The life of the children meeting the criteria of chronic abdominal pain is poorer substantially as compared to the general population. (Frank L., et. al., 2002, pp. 681- 83) The chronic abdominal pain has extensive impact on the well-being and the healthcare system of children.

The term recurrent abdominal pain was formerly established in the late 1950s in the paediatric literature by Apley and Naish, a period in which some organic gastrointestinal disorders had not been completely acceptable. (Apley J, Naish N.,1958, pp. 165- 170) Children were believed to have recurring abdominal pain if they had encountered as a minimum 3 episodes of pain, over a period of at least 3 months, serious enough to influence activities. This description had primarily made up the entry standard for their descriptive studies, but chronic abdominal pain afterwards turned into a term applied clinically to illustrate all children with abdominal pain with no organic etiology. It is now established that recurring abdominal pain is a description rather than a diagnosis. Chronic abdominal pain in children includes a number of functional ...