Children's and Caregivers' Review of a Guided Imagery Therapy Mobile App Designed to Treat Children With Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders: Leveraging a Mixed Methods Approach With User-Centered Design.

Background: Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs) are highly prevalent and associated with substantial morbidity. Guided imagery therapy (GIT) is efficacious; however, barriers often impede patient access. Therefore, we developed a GIT mobile app as a novel delivery platform.

New advances in the treatment of paediatric functional abdominal pain disorders.

This Review summarises recent pharmacological and upcoming alternative interventions for children with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs). Pharmacological targets include prokinetics and drugs affecting gastric accommodation to treat postprandial distress and nausea. Similarly, anti-inflammatory agents, junctional protein regulators, analgesics, secretagogues, and serotonin antagonists have a therapeutic role for irritable bowel syndrome.

Self-Efficacy in Children with Functional Constipation Is Associated with Treatment Success.

Objectives: To assess the relationship between self-efficacy, the belief that an individual can succeed at a goal, and short-term treatment outcome in children with functional constipation.

Study Design: Patients with functional constipation age 8-16 years completed the Self-Efficacy for Functional Constipation Questionnaire (SEFCQ), consisting of 14 statements about performing tasks needed for defecation. Patients completed SEFCQ before, immediately after, and 3 weeks after their clinic visit.

Management of gastroesophageal reflux disease: Patient and physician communication challenges and shared decision making.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a common upper esophageal condition and typical symptoms can include heartburn and sensation of regurgitation while atypical symptoms include chronic cough, asthma, hoarseness, dyspepsia and nausea. Typically, diagnosis is presumptive given the presence of typical and atypical symptoms and is an indication for empiric therapy. Treatment management can include lifestyle modifications and/or medication therapy with proton pump inhibitor (PPI) class being the preferred and most effective.

Maternal and Child Acceptability of a Proposed Guided Imagery Therapy Mobile App Designed to Treat Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders in Children: Mixed-Methods Predevelopment Formative Research.

Background: Functional abdominal pain disorders are chronic abdominal pain conditions, which affect up to 20% of children worldwide. Of the various functional abdominal pain disorder treatment modalities, psychological therapies such as guided imagery therapy appear most effective. However, there are significant barriers to receiving psychological therapies, including access to trained therapists.

Increased Postprandial Colonic Motility and Autonomic Nervous System Activity in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Prospective Study.

Background/aims: The prevalence and severity of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) declines with age, but the cause of this is unknown. This study tested 2 hypotheses: (1) autonomic nervous system responses to eating and bowel distention, measured by heart rate variability (HRV), differs by age in IBS patients and (2) HRV is correlated with colonic motility and IBS symptoms.

Methods: One hundred and fifty-six Rome III positive IBS patients and 31 healthy controls underwent colonic manometry with bag distention in the descending colon, followed by ingestion of an 810-kcal meal.

Opioids for chronic non-cancer pain in children and adolescents.

Background: Pain is a common feature of childhood and adolescence around the world, and for many young people, that pain is chronic. The World Health Organization guidelines for pharmacological treatments for children's persisting pain acknowledge that pain in children is a major public health concern of high significance in most parts of the world. While in the past, pain was largely dismissed and was frequently left untreated, views on children's pain have changed over time, and relief of pain is now seen as importantWe designed a suite of seven reviews on chronic non-cancer pain and cancer pain (looking at antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, and paracetamol as priority areas) in order to review the evidence for children's pain utilising pharmacological interventions in children and adolescents.

Parental Protectiveness Mediates the Association between Parent-Perceived Child Self-Efficacy and Health Outcomes in Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain Disorder.

Previous studies have shown that parental protectiveness is associated with increased pain and disability in Functional Abdominal Pain Disorder (FAPD) but the role that perceived child self-efficacy may play remains unclear. One reason why parents may react protectively towards their child's pain is that they perceive their child to be unable to cope or function normally while in pain (perceived low self-efficacy). This study sought to examine (a) the association between parent-perceived child pain self-efficacy and child health outcomes (symptom severity and disability); and (b) the role of parental protectiveness as a mediator of this association.

Effects of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention Trial to Improve Disease Outcomes in Children with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Background: Studies testing the efficacy of behavioral interventions to modify psychosocial sequelae of inflammatory bowel disease in children are limited. This report presents outcomes through a 6-month follow-up from a large randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a cognitive behavioral intervention for children with inflammatory bowel disease and their parents.

Methods: One hundred eighty-five children aged 8 to 17 years with a diagnosis of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and their parents were randomized to one of two 3-session conditions: (1) a social learning and cognitive behavioral therapy condition or (2) an education support condition designed to control for time and attention.

Relating Health Locus of Control to Health Care Use, Adherence, and Transition Readiness Among Youths With Chronic Conditions, North Carolina, 2015.

Introduction: Health locus of control refers to the belief that health is in one's control (internal control) or is not in one's control (external control). Among adults, external locus of control is associated with negative health outcomes, whereas internal locus of control is associated with favorable outcomes. Few studies examined these associations among youths.

Implementing psychological therapies for functional GI disorders in children and adults.

Introduction: Functional GI disorders (FGIDs) are common in adults and children. Psychological factors play an important role in the onset and maintenance of FGIDs and in explaining the associated disability. Psychological treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Hypnotherapy have been found efficacious in FGIDs but Integrating psychological treatments into traditionally medically-oriented care can be challenging.

Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaires and Tables for Investigators and Clinicians.

The Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaires were developed to screen for functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), serve as inclusion criteria in clinical trials, and support epidemiological surveys. Separate questionnaires were developed for adults, children/adolescents, and infants/toddlers. For the adult questionnaire, we first surveyed 1,162 adults without gastrointestinal disorders, and recommended the 90 percentile symptom frequency as the threshold for defining what is abnormal.

Development and Validation of a Rome III Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Questionnaire for Infants and Toddlers.

Objective: Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in infants and toddlers are common, but no questionnaire is available for use in clinic and research. The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a questionnaire assessing symptoms associated with FGIDs in infants and toddlers.

Methods: Questions were developed based on the Rome III diagnostic criteria for FGIDs.

Psychosocial mechanisms for the transmission of somatic symptoms from parents to children.

Aim: To examine familial aggregation of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) via parental reinforcement/modeling of symptoms, coping, psychological distress, and exposure to stress.

Methods: Mothers of children between the ages of 8 and 15 years with and without IBS were identified through the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. Mothers completed questionnaires, including the Child Behavior Checklist (child psychological distress), the Family Inventory of Life Events (family exposure to stress), SCL-90R (mother psychological distress), and the Pain Response Inventory (beliefs about pain).

Role of Coping With Symptoms in Depression and Disability: Comparison Between Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Abdominal Pain.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and abdominal pain of functional origin (AP) are common gastrointestinal disorders in children, which are associated with increased risk for depression and disability. Both symptom severity and coping with symptoms may contribute to these outcomes. We hypothesized that children with AP use different coping strategies compared with those with IBD for a number of reasons, including the fact that fewer treatment options are available to them.

Prevalence of functional gastrointestinal disorders in infants and toddlers.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms suggestive of an infant/toddler functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) as reported by parents in a representative community sample.

Study Design: Mothers (n = 320) of children aged 0-3 years old were recruited in the US and completed a questionnaire about their child's and their own gastrointestinal symptoms.

Results: By Rome criteria, 27% of infants/toddlers qualified for FGIDs.

Quantitative pedigree analysis and mitochondrial DNA sequence variants in adults with cyclic vomiting syndrome.

Background: Children with cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) have a high degree of maternal inheritance of functional gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. CVS in children is also associated with an increased prevalence of mitochondrial DNA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (mtDNA SNPs) 16519 T and 3010A. Preliminary data suggests that age of onset of symptoms (pediatric vs.

Is ginger effective for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome? A double blind randomized controlled pilot trial.

Objectives: Ginger is one of the most commonly used herbal medicines for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but no data exists about its effectiveness.

Design: Double blind randomized controlled trial.

Setting: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Irritable bowel syndrome may be associated with maternal inheritance and mitochondrial DNA control region sequence variants.

Background And Aim: Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in various functional disorders that are co-morbid to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) such as migraine, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. The aim of the current case-control pilot study was to determine if functional symptoms in IBS show a maternal inheritance bias, and if the degree of this maternal inheritance is related to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms.

Methods: Pedigrees were obtained from 308 adult IBS patients, 102 healthy controls, and 36 controls with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), all from Caucasian heritage, to determine probable maternal inheritance.

Impact of eating restriction on gastrointestinal motility in adolescents with IBS.

Objective: Gastrointestinal disturbances as a result of changes in eating patterns have been described in eating disorders. Many patients who experience irritable bowel syndrome report changes in eating patterns as a way to cope with their symptoms. Little is known about the consequences of these practices.

Which psychological factors exacerbate irritable bowel syndrome? Development of a comprehensive model.

Objective: There is evidence that psychological factors affect the onset, severity and duration of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, it is not clear which psychological factors are the most important and how they interact. The aims of the current study are to identify the most important psychological factors predicting IBS symptom severity and to investigate how these psychological variables are related to each other.

Diet and functional abdominal pain in children and adolescents.

Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is a common complaint among children and adolescents. For many patients, symptoms exacerbate with eating. This review discusses findings concerning the role of diet in FAP.

Functional abdominal pain in childhood: background studies and recent research trends.

The present review summarizes many of the major research trends investigated in the past five years regarding pediatric functional abdominal pain, and also summarizes the primary related findings from the authors' research program. Specific areas discussed based on work within the authors' group include familial illness patterns, genetics, traits, and mechanisms or processes related to abdominal pain. Topics covered from research published in the past five years include prevalence and cost, longitudinal follow-up, overlap with other disorders, etiology and mechanisms behind functional abdominal pain and treatment studies.