A Randomised Controlled Trial Testing the Efficacy of an Educational Website About Functional Abdominal Pain for Children and Adolescents

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Abstract
Background: Functional abdominal pain (FAP) is a severely debilitating condition affecting approximately 11.7% of children and adolescents worldwide, often persisting into adulthood and significantly restricting daily life. Health literacy is essential for treatment success. To improve knowledge about the biopsychosocial factors influencing FAP and support its management, we developed an educational multimedia website ( https://meine‐bauchstelle.com ). Methods: In a multicenter randomised controlled trial (RCT), patients with FAP ( N = 166, age 5–17 years, M = 10.8, SD = 3.31; 53.6% female) and their parents were randomly assigned to an intervention group (IG: access to the website before the first measurement) or a control group (CG: no access to the website during data collection). The primary outcome was health literacy (knowledge and health behaviour) and secondary outcomes were abdominal pain symptoms and the physician‐patient/parent interactions. Group differences were analysed using t ‐tests and multilevel models. Results: Patients in the IG who visited the website demonstrated significantly higher initial knowledge scores compared to the CG. Moreover, they reported significantly less pain‐related disability across three assessments over 3 months. Parents who visited the website rated the physician‐parent interaction significantly more positively than those in the CG. Conclusions: The educational website efficiently increased patient knowledge about FAP and improved certain pain‐related behaviours. It serves as an effective tool in conveying information about FAP in clinical practice. Future applications could extend to preventive measures in schools and other settings. Significance Statement: The educational website about functional abdominal pain is effective in transferring knowledge, reducing pain‐related disability, and improving physician‐parent interactions. It can support physicians in day‐to‐day clinical practice by referring patients to the website for further information and might be extended as a preventive measure in schools.

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