Original articleA Prospective School-based Study of Abdominal Pain and Other Common Somatic Complaints in Children
Section snippets
Methods
All third through eighth grade students attending 2 Chicago public schools with mixed ethnicity and socioeconomic populations were invited to participate in a prospective cohort study. The aims of the study were not revealed to the children or parents to minimize bias. General information about the study was provided by the principal investigator to the children, and informational letters and consents were sent to the parents. The study was approved by the institutional review board of
Results
A total of 237 of 495 children (48%) were enrolled in the study. The remaining children either declined to participate or failed to return signed consent forms. All participants completed the study. Differing school schedules necessitated staggered start times. The study began in December 2005 at 1 school and February 2006 at the other. However, once the study was begun, both schools adhered to the same protocol and schedule for its duration.
An average of 209 children (range, 184-233) responded
Discussion
This large, prospective, epidemiological study assessed common somatic symptoms in school-age American children. The prospective design, 100% subject retention, and large, complete dataset are several strengths of our investigation. Our study provides systematic data, including co-morbidity and cost impact.
Few studies have examined AP in community-based samples of children, with published studies suffering from design limitations, questionable external validity, or both.30 We collected data in
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Cited by (0)
Funding for this study was provided by the American College of Gastroenterology's 2004 Clinical Research Award. The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest, real or perceived.