STOMACH ACHE AND EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS

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STOMACH ACHE AND EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS
27 April 2007 - University of Bristol

A new study of persistent tummy ache in young children has come to the conclusion that for some it may be linked to emotional problems in their families. Researchers say that doctors treating children for recurrent abdominal pain may need to consider psychological symptoms in those children and in their parents.

The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, are based on the experiences of 10,200 families taking part in the Children of the 90s project based at the University of Bristol.

Oxford psychiatrist Dr Paul Ramchandani and his colleagues found that 55 per cent of six year-olds had complained of pains in their stomach at some time in the past year. 11.8 per cent had stomach ache at least five times in the year. It affected girls more than boys.

The researchers noticed a striking association over time. The children who complained of persistent pain at age 6 were often the same children who had complained of tummy ache at age 2.

When researchers examined the children's psychological assessments they found that those children were more than three times as likely to have emotional problems. Their mothers tended to have more symptoms of anxiety and depression

Dr Ramchandani says: "Recurrent abdominal pain is among the most common complaints of childhood.

"It is not usually associated with physical disease, although it is associated with complaints of other physical symptoms such as headache, and it seems to be higher among children with anxiety or with an anxious temperament."

"For many children the occasional stomach ache is all part of growing up and is usually a symptom of a childhood illness which can be treated normally. It is the recurrent stomach ache, which often seems to have no obvious cause, which we were investigating here."

"We need to consider carefully the possible role of parental distress and illness in some of these families. The fact that this seems to affect the same group of children across childhood, and may go on into adult life too, highlights how important it is to address these issues early in the child's life.

"This is the largest study of this problem in young children. The link we have shown between recurrent abdominal pain and emotional symptoms, in children and their parents, supports the view that doctors should be at least considering psychological factors in these cases."

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About: University of Bristol
The University College of Bristol opened in 1876, after six years of discussions and controversy, in a bid to bring university culture to the provinces. It was the first college in the country to admit men and women on an equal footing.

The University’s Research and Enterprise Development (RED) division was launched in 2000 to stimulate and support an entrepreneurial culture and encourage the growth of technology-based business.

2003 saw the completion of the Dorothy Hodgkin building, named after the University’s fifth Chancellor. The £18 million building is dedicated to research in neuroendocrinology. 2003 also saw the opening of the University’s £5 million Centre for Sport, Exercise and Health.

Work on a new, state-of-the-art engineering building is due to be completed in early 2004. The £20 million BLADE project (Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering) will bring together the Engineering Faculty’s six departments to establish Europe’s most advanced dynamics engineering research facilities.

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