Hassan Karami - Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
Bahareh Lashtoo Aghaee - Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Ramsar, Iran.
Jamshid Yazdani Charati - Department of Biostatistics, School of Health Sciences, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
Alame Abedi - Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.

Objectives: Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is a debilitating disorder that has a high prevalence among children. The goal of this study is to evaluate patients’ and parents’ perceptions of health-related quality of life (QoL) for children with FAP. Methods: Between April ۲۰۱۸ and June ۲۰۱۹, a total of ۲۰۰ children (including ۱۰۰ with FAP and ۱۰۰ healthy individuals) and ۲۰۰ parents participated in this study. The participants completed a health-related QoL scale (pediatric quality of life inventory) that is scored on a scale from ۰ (poor) to ۱۰۰ (best). Children with FAP and their parents were compared to a control group consisting of healthy children. Results: Children with FAP had lower self-report QoL scores (۴۶.۹۷±۱۷.۴۳) compared to their healthy peers (۷۸.۶۹±۱۳.۰۲) and the difference was significant (P<۰.۰۵). Parents of children with FAP reported lower QoL scores compared to parents of the control group (۴۵.۵۶±۱۴.۱۹ vs ۷۵.۹۴±۱۵.۰۶, P<۰.۰۵) but it was similar to the scores for their children. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that children with FAP and their parents experience a poor QoL compared to their healthy peers.

Functional abdominal pain, Quality of Life, Children, Parent