Commentary on: Vila M, Kramer T, Obiols JE, et al. Abdominal pain in British young people: associations, impairment and health care use. J Psychosom Res 2012;73:437–42.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed

Implications for practice and research

• Abdominal pain is common in children, and frequently associated with anxiety, depression, school absenteeism and physical complaints such as headache and limb pain.

• Assessment and treatment of children with abdominal pain should be underpinned by a biopsychosocial approach.

• Functional abdominal pain research should use standardised research tools and definitions such as the Rome III criteria.

Context

Between 20% and 40% of school children have weekly abdominal pain accounting for 2–4% of childhood medical consultations in the USA.1 ,2 Most abdominal pain is functional; no anatomical, biochemical or structural abnormalities are found. The health system burden and impairment of affected children remains poorly understood. Studies cannot …