Objective: To describe the testing, prescription, referral, and follow-up management by general practitioners (GPs) for children presenting with non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea in primary care.
Design: Retrospective cohort study with one-year follow-up.
Setting: Registry data from a Dutch primary care database (AHON) between 2015 and 2019.
Subjects: Children aged 4-18 years old who presented by face-to-face consultation in primary care for non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea (>7 days).
Main outcome measures: We recorded the proportions of children who received (1) diagnostic testing, medicine prescriptions, follow-up consultations, and referrals at their first visit and (2) repeat consultations and referrals by one-year of follow-up.
Results: Among the 2200 children (median age, 10.5 years; interquartile range, 7.0-14.6) presenting to a GP with non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea, most reported abdominal pain (78.7%). At the first visit, GPs performed diagnostic testing for 32.2%, provided a prescription to 34.5%, and referred 2.5% to secondary care. Twenty-five percent of the children had a follow-up consultation within four weeks and 20.8% had a repeat consultation between four weeks and one year. Thirteen percent of the children were referred to secondary care by one year. However, only 1% of all children had documentation of an organic diagnosis needing management in secondary care.
Conclusion: One-third of children received diagnostic testing or a medicine prescription. Few had a follow-up consultation and >10% was referred to pediatric care. Future research should explore the motivations of GPs why and which children receive diagnostic and medical interventions.
Keywords: General practice; abdominal pain; children; diarrhea; functional disorders.
General practitioners (GPs) often manage children with non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea, which is typically due to a functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID).Nearly one-third of all children underwent diagnostic testing at their first visit.Although recommended by the guideline of the Dutch Society of GPs, we found that only a quarter of children received a follow-up consultation.Thirteen percent of children were referred to pediatric specialist care by one year.