Chronic abdominal pain in children aged 5 - 15 years: An insight of psychosocial factors

Background: Mostly, chronic abdominal pain (CAP) is detected with no abnormality. Therefore, focuses on psychosocial issues of children with CAP may throw light on etiology of this disorder and inputs for management. Objective: To study the psychosocial factors related with CAP and association between them in children. Methodology: In a prospective, hospital-based case control study, 199 children (aged 5-15 years) were enrolled. Children were split into cases (n=50, with CAP) and controls (n-149, without CAP). Cases were further divided into organic and nonorganic groups based on their symptoms. Baseline investigations like urine and stool routine, ultrasound (abdomen and pelvis) was done for cases. Psychosocial assessment was done in all patients. Results: Around 88% children in cases group had nonorganic pain and 12% had organic pain. Most children with nonorganic pain were females (52%). A significant association noted between type of stool, USG abdomen results, and characteristic of pain with type of abdominal pain (organic and nonorganic) (P<0.001)