The described pooled prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms is lower than in adult IBD. However, due to varying instruments/cut-offs for measuring symptoms and few studies investigating disorders, the results should be interpreted with caution. Cross-cultural use of the same instruments is needed to gain better insight into prevalence rates.

AIM To estimate the impact of different types of language disorders on socio-emotional development and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in 8-year-old children.METHOD In a prospective cohort including 13 427 newborns, of 10 911 eligible children (66 excluded because of intellectual disability or foreign language, 2448 lost to follow-up due to house moves, refusal, death or other reasons) written consent was obtained from the parents of 6051 then 8-year-old children (55%). Questionnaires, completed by the parents of 4745 children (2323 males, 2412 females) and the teachers of 4771 children (2360 males, 2411 females), included validated measures to define type of language disorder and to assess socio-emotional development and HRQOL. RESULTSIn 377 (8.2%) children, speech ⁄ language disorders were identified. Children with receptive language disorders had more unfavourable scores for extraversion (9.7, 99% CI 9.3-10.1, p=0.006), school attitude (7.8, 99% CI 7.4-8.2; p<0.001), agreeableness (9.1, 99% CI 8.6-9.6, p<0.001; normal ranges 7-13), and quality of life (49.6, 99% CI 48.8-51.0, p<0.001; normal range 40-60), as compared to children without these disorders. Pragmatic disorders and suspected autism were associated with the most unfavourable scores, for school attitude 8.1 (99% CI 6.9-9.3, p<0.001) and 7.5 (99% CI 6.1-8.9, p=0.002), and for quality of life 42.9 (99% CI 40.3-45.5, p<0.001) and 36.2 (99% CI 30.0-42.4, p<0.001).

BackgroundThe incidence of pertussis has been increasing worldwide. In the Netherlands, the seroprevalence has risen higher than the reported cases, suggesting that laboratory tests for pertussis are considered infrequently and that even more pertussis cases are missed. The objective of our study was to determine the frequency of pertussis in clinically unsuspect cases compared to suspect cases with the intention of finding clinical predictors.MethodsThe present prospective cohort study was part of a controlled clinical trial evaluating the impact of molecular diagnostics on clinical decision making in pediatric respiratory infections, performed during 2 winter seasons. For this study, in the first season pertussis was only tested in case of clinical suspicion, in the second season, pertussis was also tested without clinical suspicion. Multivariate and univariate analysis were performed using SPSS 18 and Statistical software ‘R’.ResultsIn the two seasons respectively 22/209 (10,5%) and 49/373 (13,1%) cases were clinically suspected of pertussis. Bordetella pertussis was detected by real time RT-PCR in respectively 2/22 (9,1%) and 7/49 (14,3%) cases. In the second season an additional 7 cases of pertussis were found in clinically unsuspected cases (7/257 = 2,7%). These additional cases didn’t differ in clinical presentation from children without a positive test for pertussis with respect to respiratory symptoms.ConclusionsPertussis in children sometimes mimics viral respiratory tract infections. If pertussis diagnostics are based on clinical suspicion alone, about 1 in 5 cases (19%) is missed. Despite widely accepted clinical criteria, paroxysmal cough is not a good predictor of pertussis. To prevent spreading, physicians should include B. pertussis in routine diagnostics in respiratory tract infections.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2334-14-526) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background In youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has been shown to be affected by individual disease factors and specific psychological factors. The innovative aim of this study is to examine the combined impact of psychological factors (illness perceptions, cognitive coping, anxiety, and depression) on HRQOL, over and above the associations of demographic and disease factors with HRQOL in youth with IBD. Method Data on clinical disease activity, illness perceptions, cognitive coping, anxiety, depression, and HRQOL were prospectively collected in 262 consecutive youth (age 10–20, 46.6% male) with confirmed IBD. Multiple linear regression analyses tested the associations of demographic, disease, and psychological variables with HRQOL in separate groups for Crohn’s disease (CD; N = 147) and ulcerative colitis and IBD unclassified (UC/IBD-U; N = 115), using age-specific validated instruments. Results In both disease groups, more negative illness perceptions (ß = − .412; ß = − .438, p < .001) and more depression (ß = − .454; ß = − .279, p < .001) were related to lower HRQOL. In the UC/IBD-U group, more anxiety was related to lower HRQOL (ß = − .201, p = .001). The model with the psychological variables explained a large and significant amount of variance in both groups: 74% and 83%, respectively (p < .001). Conclusion In 10–20-year-old IBD patients, negative illness perceptions and depression were significantly and more strongly associated with lower HRQOL than demographic and disease factors. Thus, it is important to integrate psychological factors in the treatment for IBD patients. To improve HRQOL in young IBD patients, psychological interventions should be targeted at negative illness perceptions and depression.

Considering the high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms, psychological screening is recommended in young IBD patients. Screening facilitates early recognition and psychological treatment. Female patients and patients with active disease are the most vulnerable.