Prevalence of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders among School-aged Children and adolescents, A Multicenter Study

Background The term Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder ‘(FGID)’ defines several and variable combinations of recurrent or chronic gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms that do not have an identified underlying pathophysiology. Without an objective marker, the classification of FGIDs depends on symptoms. The aim of the Work: To measure the prevalence of FGIDs among a representative sample of school-aged children/adolescents aging 4-18 years, to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of children affected by FGID and to assess the effect of FGIDs on health-related quality of life concerning both the child and the parent/caregiver. Patients and Methods The present cross-sectional study included 1082 Egyptian children/adolescents with age varying between 4-18 yrs. They were randomly selected among those attending primary, preparatory and secondary schools at Cairo, El-Gharbya and El-Sharqia governorates in the period from September 2017 to September 2018. Each child was subjected to clinical history taking, assessment of socioeconomic standard of family, assessment for presence of FGIDs using an Arabic translation of “Rome 4 diagnostic Questionnaire for pediatric functional GI disorders” and using Arabic translation of HRQOL score which included social and school functioning to study the effect of FGIDs on quality of life of children and parents. Results Mean age for screened children was 8.05 ± 3.03 years. 574 (53.1%) were males. The prevalence of FGIDs among studied children was 30.4%. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) was the most common type of FGIDs (11.6%), followed by functional constipation (8.4%), then functional dyspepsia (4.6%). Late order of birth and more members in the family, lower income per capita were all significantly related to positive FGID diagnosis. Children with FGID had lower scores for health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Conclusion FGIDs are common in school-aged Egyptian children/adolescents; IBS is the most common. Risk factors associated with having FGID include increased family members and decreased income per capita. FGIDs adversely affect the HRQOL of patients.