Gender and age characteristics of functional gastrointestinal disorders in children in wartime conditions

Abstract

Objectives and Study: During the war, the number of complaints from children living in the frontline region with dyspeptic complaints, typical of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID), increased significantly. Objective: to analyze the gender and age characteristics of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) in children in conditions of war and prolonged stress. Methods: 380 appeals of children to primary care physicians (Kharkiv) were processed. Inclusion criteria: age > 3 years, presence of complaints that meet the IV Rome criteria of the FGID in children 2016, long‐term stay in the frontline region. Questionnaires were additionally analyzed, and the results were statistically processed. Results: Among the total number of applications, girls significantly (p < 0.01) prevailed ‐ 250 (65.8%) versus 130 (34.2%) boys. By age, patients were divided into 3 groups: 1 (age 3‐7 years), 2 ‐ (age 8‐12 years), 3 ‐ (age > 13 years). Almost half (47.9%) of applications were from patients of the 2nd age group, while the statistics for the 1st (24.5%) and 3rd (27.6%) groups almost did not differ. If in the 1st group the frequency of FGID almost did not differ depending on gender, then in the 2nd group it was almost twice (122 versus 60), and in the 3rd ‐ three times (78 versus 27) it prevailed in girls (with a significance of p < 0.01). In addition, it was in girls that FGID was significantly more often accompanied by disturbances in the psycho‐emotional state and deterioration in the quality of life. To the question “Is the emergence/intensification of complaints related to the war?” 100% of girls and 84.6% of boys answered in the affirmative. Conclusions: FGIDs are much more common in children in wartime, have age and gender characteristics, predominate in girls, are accompanied by persistent psycho‐emotional disorders, worsen the quality of life, and require long‐term treatment in a multidisciplinary team.