Trajectories of Symptoms and Impairment for Pediatric Patients with Functional Abdominal Pain: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study

Objective: This prospective study characterizes trajectories of symptoms and impairment in pediatric patients with abdominal pain not associated with identifiable organic disease. Method: The Children's Somatization Inventory and the Functional Disability Inventory were administered four times over 5 years to 132 patients (6-18 years old) seen in a pediatric gastroenterology clinic. Individual trajectories were empirically grouped and correlates of trajectory group membership at baseline were evaluated. Results: A model with three unique trajectories was found to adequately fit both symptom and impairment data. Two trajectories indicated relatively long-term improvement and one indicated continued high levels of symptoms and impairment. At baseline, the long-term risk group did not have the most severe pain but had significantly more anxiety, depression, lower perceived self-worth, and more negative life events. Conclusions: These results indicate that several distinct trajectories of relatively long-term outcomes may exist in children with functional abdominal pain. One trajectory indicated long-term risk for a high level of symptoms and impairment. Psychosocial correlates of long-term risk for physical symptoms and impairment, such as child-reported stress and internalizing symptoms, may be useful for treatment planning. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)