Impact of Parental Illness and Injury on Pediatric Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction.

Objective To evaluate the relationship between parental injury and illness and disorders of gut brain interaction (DGBI) in children. Study design A self-controlled case series using data from the Military Health System Data Repository compared ICD-9 identified DGBI related outpatient visits and prescriptions in 442,651 children ages 3-16 years in the two-years before and the two-years after the injury and/or illness of their military parent. Negative binomial regression was used to compare visit rates for constipation, fecal incontinence, abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome, and a composite of these before and after parental injury and/or illness. Logistic regression, clustered by child, compared the odds of stooling agent and antispasmodic prescription before and after PII. Results In the two years following PII children had increased visits for DGBIs [adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR): 1.09; 95% CI: 1.07-1.10], constipation (aIRR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.04-1.10), abdominal pain (aIRR: 1.09; 95% CI 1.07-1.12), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) (aIRR: 1.37; 95%CI 1.19-1.58). Following PII, the odds of stooling agent prescription decreased [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.95; 95% CI 0.93-0.97] and the odds of antispasmodic prescription increased (aOR: 1.26; 95% CI 1.18-1.36). Conclusions PII is associated with increased healthcare utilization for DGBIs. Parental health should be considered by clinicians when assessing DGBIs, counselling patients, and formulating treatment plans.