A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trials: efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapies for the management of functional and recurrent abdominal pain disorders in children and adolescents

ABSTRACT

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is effective for pain relief in children and adolescents with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs). However, few studies have focused on the FAPDs specifically and the medium-term or long-term results of CBT. In this meta-analysis, we investigated the efficacy of CBT in pediatric FAPDs and unclassified chronic or recurrent abdominal pain (CAP and RAP, respectively). We searched the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases for related randomized controlled trials until August 2021. Eventually, 10 trials with 872 participants were included. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed, and data on two primary and four secondary outcomes of interest were extracted. We used the standardized mean difference (SMD) to measure the same outcome, and precisions of effect sizes were reported as 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We found that CBT had significantly positive effects on reducing pain intensity immediately (SMD: −0.54 [CI: −0.9, −0.19], p = 0.003), 3 months after the intervention (SMD: −0.55; [CI: −1.01, −0.1], p = 0.02) and 12 months after the intervention (SMD: −0.32; [CI: −0.56, −0.08], p = 0.008). CBT also reduced the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms, depression, and solicitousness, improved the quality of life and decreased the total social cost. Future studies should consider uniform interventions in the control group and comparing different CBT delivery methods.

KEYWORDS:

• Functional abdominal pain
• cognitive behavior therapy
• pain intensity
• social cost
• pediatrics
• review

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the Laboratory Animal Center at TMU for technical support; and the team of Wallace Academic Editing for generously sharing their language knowledge and making helpful comments in revising the review. We are also grateful to the authors, Drs. Tonya M. Palermo, Shelly van der veek, and Paul Robins, who provided additional data or information from their studies for this meta-analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2023.2200562