Recurrent abdominal pain among children: its role in school performance

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is a common problem among school children. The majority of affected children do not attend school regularly. It is believed to be common among high academic achievers but available data has failed to show such an association. Our main objective was to detect the association between RAP and school performance in Sri Lankan children. METHOD: This was a cross sectional survey. Questionnaires were distributed to a randomly selected group of school children attending year 1 to 9. Questionnaires were filled by parents and returned by post. Details regarding the child's academic performance were obtained from school records. RAP was defined according to Apley's criteria. RESULTS: Eight hundred and ten questionnaires were distributed, 734 (90.6%) were returned. Seventy seven (10.5%) had RAP. RAP was significantly higher in children who had changed their school (p=0.0026) and were being bullied at school (p=0.00098). School absenteeism was 80.5% in the RAP group compared to 45% among controls (p<0.0001). Twenty five (32.2%) and 16 (20.8%) children with RAP had disturbances in participation in sports and extracurricular activities respectively. Prevalence of RAP in good, average and poor academic performers was 11.2%, 11.5% and 10.4% respectively (p>0.05). Performance in the year-5-scholarship examination (12.6% in scholarship holders vs. 10.2% in failures) and child's participation in sports showed no association with RAP (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: RAP was associated with exposure to stressful events at school. School absenteeism was significantly higher among affected children. RAP was not associated with high academic achievement and participation in sports.