Chronic GI Disorders in Kids: School Absences May Hold the Key, Study Finds - Video

Children who frequently miss school because of abdominal complaints are far more likely to be suffering from disorders of the gut-brain axis such as irritable bowel syndrome than diseases that can be detected with medical tests, new UVA Health Children’s research has found. The discovery could improve care for children with these common GI disorders and might spare them from a barrage of unproductive tests.

Further, children who had been homebound for the entire month were nearly eight times more likely to be suffering from a functional GI disorder, the researchers found

As every parent knows, stomach and digestive problems are common among school-age children. This can be from a short-term illness, such as a stomach virus, but in the vast majority of persistent cases, the cause is something else. These chronic cases of abdominal pain and constipation account for up to 38% of pediatrician visits, and 95% of those cases are not the result of a

gastrointestinal disease and are due to a functional GI disorder.

We suspect that one of the biggest reasons children with functional gastrointestinal disorders are more likely to miss lots of school is because of what is often a long delay in making a definitive diagnosis,” said Borowitz, a pediatric gastroenterologist with UVA Health Children’s Department of Pediatrics. “The longer the child goes without an explanation of why they are having symptoms and what can be done to lessen those symptoms, the more anxious, fearful and frustrated the child and the family become. In general, the quicker we can identify what is going on and begin treatment, the better the outcome.”

These ambiguous diagnoses can be worrisome for both parent and child and can contribute to school absenteeism, Borowitz and Tersteeg note in a paper in the medical journal Frontiers in Pediatrics. Further, delays in getting these children a specific diagnosis can reduce the effectiveness of treatment for their conditions.

Ultimately, the researchers found that 82% of children who had missed more than three days of school in the prior month went on to be diagnosed with a functional GI disorder.

Of the 408 children found to have functional disorders, the most common diagnoses were functional constipation (36%), functional abdominal pain (35%), and irritable bowel (31%). More than 220 of the children were found to have more than one disorder, but their absenteeism rates were no higher than children who had only one disorder.

The researchers say their findings suggest doctors may find it useful to ask about school absenteeism to help them more quickly identify children who may be suffering from functional GI disorders. This could help speed a diagnosis and begin treatment more quickly, improving the children’s outcomes.

Ref: Tersteeg S M, Borowitz S M. School absenteeism as a predictor of functional gastrointestinal disorders in children, Front. Pediatr. , 12 December 2024: Volume 12 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2024.1503783