Profiling Relationships Between Abdominal Pain, Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Pelvic Pain Bothersomeness in Young
Catherine Von Felten1, Caroline Warr1, Amy Tinetti1
1School of Allied Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Background:
Abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptoms and pelvic pain are common complaints of young females seeking healthcare. These symptoms can co-exist and become recurrent, impacting on quality of life.
Aim:
This study investigated the relationships between abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms at 17-years of age and pelvic pain bothersomeness (PPB) at 22-years of age in young females.
Materials And Methods:
A cross-sectional observational study utilising 17 and 22-year Gen2 female data of the Raine Study (n = 584). Abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms at 17 years were: frequency, consistency and/or pain of bowel movements, bloating, nausea, vomiting, analgesia for cramps and laxative use in the preceding 3 months. At 22 years, PPB was determined by the Urogenital Distress Inventory Short Form (UDI-6). Additional health-related variables were analysed to understand the symptom patterns of participants.
Results:
17-year-old females, with abdominal pain and gastrointestinal data who answered the UDI-6 for PPB (n = 450); 347 (77%) were not bothered by PPB, 64 (14%) reported mild PPB and 39 (9%) reported moderate-severe PPB at 22-years (p = 0.168). Symptoms of varied stool consistency, vomiting, nausea and laxative use, but not isolated abdominal pain, at 17-years were significantly associated with PPB at 22-years. Co-variants of depression, anxiety, bullying, living with a partner, poor sleep and smoking showed increased prevalence with severity of PPB.
Conclusion:
Gastrointestinal symptoms in adolescence were associated with pelvic pain bothersomeness (PPB) in young adulthood. Early detection of abdomino-pelvic symptoms may be useful to allow early, targeted and multi-disciplinary management to optimise physical and mental health outcomes.
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