Diagnoses after newly recorded abdominal pain in primary care: observational cohort study

Non-acute abdominal pain in primary care is diagnostically challenging.

To quantify the 1-year cumulative incidence of 35 non-malignant diagnoses and nine cancers in adults after newly recorded abdominal pain in primary care.

Observational cohort study of 125 793 Clinical Practice Research Datalink GOLD records.

Participants, aged ≥40 years, had newly recorded abdominal pain between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013. Age- and sex-stratified 1-year cumulative incidence by diagnosis is reported.

Most (>70%) participants had no pre-specified diagnoses after newly recorded abdominal pain. Non-malignant diagnoses were most common: upper gastrointestinal problems (gastro-oesophageal reflux disease, hiatus hernia, gastritis, oesophagitis, and gastric/duodenal ulcer) in males and urinary tract infection in females. The incidence of upper gastrointestinal problems plateaued at age ≥60 years (aged 40-59 years: males 4.9%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.6 to 5.1, females 4.0%, 95% CI = 3.8 to 4.2; aged 60-69 years: males 5.8%, 95% CI = 5.4 to 6.2, females 5.4%, 95% CI = 5.1 to 5.8). Urinary tract infection incidence increased with age (aged 40-59 years: females 5.1%, 95% CI = 4.8 to 5.3, males 1.1%, 95% CI = 1.0 to 1.2; aged ≥70 years: females 8.0%, 95% CI = 7.6 to 8.4, males 3.3%, 95% CI = 3.0 to 3.6%). Diverticular disease incidence rose with age, plateauing at 4.2% (95% CI = 3.9 to 4.6) in males aged ≥60 years, increasing to 6.1% (95% CI = 5.8 to 6.4) in females aged ≥70 years. Irritable bowel syndrome incidence was higher in females (aged 40-59 years: 2.9%, 95% CI = 2.7 to 3.1) than males (aged 40-59 years: 2.1%, 95% CI = 1.9 to 2.3), decreasing with age to 1.3% (95% CI = 1.2 to 1.5) in females and 0.6% (95% CI = 0.5 to 0.8) in males aged ≥70 years.

Although abdominal pain commonly remains unexplained, non-malignant diagnosis are more likely than cancer.