We have an interesting topic this month. Abdominal pain in adolescents, the root causes and use of the health care system as a result.  The research findings demonstrated that it is common for British secondary school adolescents to have frequent abdominal pains. The pains are often linked to emotional symptoms, often due to stress.  In addition, the pain is often impairing which prompts the youth to seek medical care.

Nursing has a role to play in the education of parents and adolescents related to frequent abdominal pains.  It is also important to address the underlying stress and emotional ties.

How can this be achieved?  What changes would be relevant in your practice, in the community, and in the school system to address the issue of frequent abdominal pains in adolescents?

The following are links to the podcast, commentary and abstract related to this research.  Please join us in this discussion by posting your comments to this blog, or tweeting your comments at #ebnjc.

Podcast  https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/ebn-podcast-john-rosen

Commentary article: British secondary school students report frequent abdominal pain with associated physical and emotional symptoms http://bit.ly/19dC1Bu

Original research article: Vila M, Kramer T, Obiols JE, Garralda ME. Abdominal pain in British young people: associations, impairment and health care use. J Psychosom Res 2012;73:437–42. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23148811