Assessment of quality of life in children with a combination of functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

The prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) in children ranges from 19% to 40%, depending on age. The combination of functional dyspepsia (FD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is detected in 15-44.6% of patients with FGID. Their course is characterized by more pronounced clinical symptoms: abdominal pain, which is combined with flatulence, nausea, difficulty in defecation or diarrhea, impaired stool consistency, feeling of incomplete bowel movement and deterioration in quality of life. Purpose - to assess the quality of life in children with a combination of FD and IBS to optimize therapy. Materials and methods. The study included 44 children with a combination FD and IBS aged 6 to 18 years (the main group). The control group consisted of 30 practically healthy children of the same age. Diagnoses of FD and IBS were made on the basis of clinical symptoms according to the Rome criteria IV (2016). A survey of children and their parents was conducted using the international questionnaire PedsQL™ 4.0 (Pediatrics Quality of Life Inventory), which is one of the most popular questionnaires in the world, has proven to be a simple, reliable, sensitive method for studying the quality of life of healthy and sick children of different ages (2-17 years). The questionnaire has general scales, but there is a separate version of the PedsQL™4.0 Generic Core Scales, which describes physical, emotional, social, and role functioning. Results. It was established that indicators of physical, emotional, social and school functioning and, as a result, indicators of psychosocial functioning and the overall quality of life assessment are significantly reduced in children with combined FD and IBS compared to the control group. Conclusions. Quality of life studies are an important component of a comprehensive assessment of the overall condition of a child with comorbid FD and IBS to prevent the development of these disorders, to improve quality of life, to reduce the time and cost of assessment, and to optimize therapy. The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The Local Ethic Committee of the institution specified in the work adopted the study protocol. Informed consent of the children’s parents was obtained for the research. No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.