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ABSTRACT
Objectives. To compare Water Load Test (WLT) consumption patterns between children with functional gastrointestinal disorders and healthy control children.
Methods. 71 children with recurrent abdominal pain completed the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children ? Self-Report Form (BASC-SR) and the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms (QPGS) during their first visit to a pediatric gastroenterology clinic. Parent- and child-report functional gastrointestinal diagnoses were based on QPGS scoring criteria, while the clinician?s diagnosis was based on clinical impression from history and physical examination completed at this visit. Twenty-six healthy children also participated as controls. Statistical comparisons involved Student?s t-tests, while ROC curves estimated sensitivity/specificity of the WLT and linear regression determined the amount of variance accounted for in water volume consumption.
Results. Children with recurrent abdominal pain, particularly those with a diagnosis of Functional Dyspepsia (FD), consumed less water than healthy children on the WLT. The WLT demonstrated good specificity, but poor sensitivity, in identifying patients with FD. Clinician evaluation provided the greatest differentiation between FGIDs on the WLT.
Conclusions. The WLT appears to be a poor diagnostic test for FD due to poor sensitivity. However, future research should examine whether the WLT is identifying a subset of children with FD experiencing a specific mechanosensory dysfunction and whether the WLT can predict clinical response to specific therapeutic interventions.
Key Words: Water Load Test, functional gastrointestinal disorders, pediatrics
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