Functional abdominal pain disorders and patient- and parent-reported outcomes in children with inflammatory bowel disease in remission

Chronic abdominal pain occurs frequently in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in remission. To assess the prevalence and factors associated with Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders among IBD children in remission (IBD-FAPD). Patients with IBD for > 1 year, in clinical remission for ≥ 3 months were recruited from a National IBD network. IBD-FAPDs were assessed using the Rome III questionnaire criteria. Patient- or parent- reported outcomes were assessed. Among 102 included patients, 57 (56%) were boys, mean age (DS) was 15.0 (± 2.0) years and 75 (74%) had Crohn's disease. Twenty-two patients (22%) had at least one Functional Gastrointestinal Disorder among which 17 had at least one IBD-FAPD. Past severity of disease or treatments received and level of remission were not significantly associated with IBD-FAPD. Patients with IBD-FAPD reported more fatigue (peds-FACIT-F: 35.9 ± 9.8 vs. 43.0 ± 6.9, p = 0.01) and a lower HR-QoL (IMPACT III: 76.5 ± 9.6 vs. 81.6 ± 9.2, p = 0.04) than patients without FAPD, and their parents had higher levels of State and Trait anxiety than the other parents. Prevalence of IBD-FAPD was 17%. IBD-FAPD was not associated with past severity of disease, but with fatigue and lower HR-QoL.