Clinical and Experimental Gastroenterology (Aug 2020)
National Prevalence of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in Jordanian Children
Abstract
Eyad Altamimi,1,2 Elena Scarpato,3 Ibraheem Saleh,4 Khalid Tantawi,5 Mohammad Alassaf,6 Mustafa Ijam,7 Mahmoud Khdour,8 Mohammad Batieneh,5 Yazan Alsarayrah,9 Basil Alaqtam10 1Pediatric Department, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan; 2Pediatric Department, King Abdullah University Hospital, Ar Ramtha, Jordan; 3Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Section of Pediatrics, University of Naples, Naples, Italy; 4Emergency Department, Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan; 5Surgery Department, AL Basheer Hospitals, Ministry of Health, Amman, Jordan; 6Medicine Department, King Hussein Medical Center, Royal Medical Services, Amman, Jordan; 7Medicine Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA; 8Dermatology Department, AL Basheer Hospitals, Ministry of Health, Amman, Jordan; 9Psychiatry Department, King Hussein Medical Center, Royal Medical Service, Amman, Jordan; 10Orthopedic Department, AL Basheer Hospitals, Ministry of Health, Amman, JordanCorrespondence: Eyad Altamimi PediatricDepartment, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box: 3030, Irbid 22110, JordanTel +962-797464254Email [email protected]: Functional gastrointestinal disorders are common in children. After the introduction of Rome criteria for diagnosis, assessment of prevalence of such disorders became an attainable goal. Since data from our part of the world are scarce, this study aimed at estimating the prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in Jordanian children.Patients and Methods: In a school-based cross-sectional study, recruited children between the age of 4 and 18 were asked to fill the Arabic version of the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms-Rome III Version (QPGS-RIII). Patients were identified based on meeting the ROME III criteria.Results: Of 2000 children that were recruited, 1587 (79.4%) returned completed questionnaires. Males accounted for 841 (53%) of participants. Mean age was 10.2 years (range, 4 to 18 years). A total of 815 (51.4%) of participants were younger group (4 to 10 years of age), mean ± SD age of the two age groups was 8.1 ± 1.4 and 14.0 ± 1.8 years, respectively. Overall, 514 (32.4%) children met the criteria for having at least one FGID. The most common FGIDs in Jordanian children were functional constipation, followed by Aerophagia, abdominal migraine, and irritable bowel syndrome (prevalence estimates of 16.0%, 7.0%, 5.1%, and 3.6%, respectively). FGIDs were more common in younger girls and older boys but were not statistically significant. Concomitant presence of more than one FGID was observed in almost 15% and 22% of younger and older age groups, respectively.Conclusion: Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are common in Jordanian school children. Functional constipation is the most common disorder. Further studies investigating the predisposing factors in our population are needed.Keywords: children, Mediterranean, Arab, functional, gastrointestinal, constipation, aerophagia
