Abdominal Pain and Disturbed Bowel Movements are Frequent among Young People. A Population Based Study in Young Participants of the Woodstock Rock Festival in Poland

Background: Internet traffic may reflect the prevalence of real-world ailments. The aim of this study was to analyse queries associated with abdominal pain and to investigate seasonal frequency and trends of searches in Poland. Methods: We analysed mean search volume from March 2015 to February 2019 of keywords associated with ‘abdominal pain’ in the Polish language generated from the Google Ads Planner. Keywords were categorised by location, feature or type of pain, concurrent symptoms, frequency and patient groups, etc. We compared differences in search volumes across seasons and years. Results: Overall, 24,673,430 queries were associated with abdominal pain in the period analysed. The number of searches associated with abdominal pain in winter increased by ~30% compared with queries searched in summer. There were significantly more searches related to abdominal pain located in the epigastric, umbilical, hypogastrium, left lumbar, left iliac and right iliac regions combined with vomiting or fever, and acute or burning sensation in cold months. We did not observe any specific patterns of pain in the right lumbar or left hypochondrium region, co-presence of flatulence, acute, cramping or persistent/chronic or strong abdominal pain. Conclusion: Internet queries associated with abdominal pain and related factors have increased in the past 4 years and present a seasonal pattern. Google Ads may be a valuable tool to assess the prevalence of complaints in under-researched regions. The observed trends in queries related to abdominal pain merely reflect the scale of the problem. The reported pattern should be verified in epidemiological studies.

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“…Moreover, these epidemiological studies may also be biased by the limited period of observation. 32 – 34 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Dr. Google, I have a stomach ache’ – seasonal variations in abdominal pain: a 4-year retrospective data analysis from Google Ads keywords planner

Kamińśki

Łoniewski

Marlicz

2020

Therap Adv Gastroenterol

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“…The global prevalence of IBS was estimated to be around 11%, with almost 30% as cases of IBS-C. The incidence was higher in women and individuals below 50 years of age [22][23][24]. Clinical differentiation between FC and IBS-C may introduce many difficulties as the diagnoses overlap [25][26][27][28].…”

Section: Cic Diagnosis: the Rome IV Criteria For Functional Constipatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are probiotics useful in the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation in adults? A review of existing systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and recommendations

Kamińśki

Skonieczna-Żydecka

Łoniewski

et al. 2020

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Chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) has emerged as common problem for contemporary gastroenterology and is one of the most frequent complaints in primary care. Chronic idiopathic constipation significantly affects patients' quality of life and has an impact on global health and economy. Functional gastrointestinal disorders and bowel disorders, according to Rome IV criteria, result from inappropriate gut-brain interactions. The pathophysiology is complex and poorly understood, with evidence accumulating that gut microbiota can be implicated in the development and function of the enteric nervous system. Gut bacteria modulate gut barrier function, short chain fatty acid synthesis, and bile acid metabolism, factors which play roles in the gut peristalsis regulation. The high prevalence of CIC, with poor treatment outcomes, warrants searches for new forms of therapy, including probiotic therapies. Probiotics are often recommended by medical practitioners, but evidence-based utility in adults with CIC is uncertain. Recommendations/guidelines are often based on results from individual studies, rather than meta-analyses or umbrella reviews. Additionally, meta-analyses often indicate a group of probiotics rather than individual strains, and they create difficulty for physicians in making therapeutic choices. More CIC patient randomised clinical studies utilising well-defined strains, or combinations, are necessary.

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“…The prevalence of symptoms declared by forum users partially reflects the real-world prevalence. It seems that forum users are concerned with symptoms that might be mainly related to common organic diseases such as gastroenteritis as well as functional bowel disorders [27,28]. The abdominal pain was the most commonly reported pain in the upper quadrant and umbilical region which may be related to gastritis, biliary colic, or functional disorders.…”

Section: Main Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of Answers to Queries among Anonymous Users with Gastroenterological Problems on an Internet Forum

Kamińśki

Borger

Prymas

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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Internet forums are an attractive source of health-related information. We aimed to investigate threads in the gastroenterological section of a popular Polish medical forum for anonymous users. We characterised the following aspects in threads: the main problem of the original poster, declared ailments and rationale of the responses (rational, neutral, harmful or not related to the problem of the original poster). We analysed over 2717 forum threads initiated in the years 2010–2018. Users mostly asked for diagnosis of the problem [1814 (66.8%)], treatment [1056 (38.9%)] and diagnostic interpretation [308 (11.3%)]. The most commonly declared symptoms were abdominal pain [1046 (38.5%)], diarrhea [454 (16.7%)] and bloating [354 (13.0%)]. Alarm symptoms were mentioned in 309 (11.4%) threads. From the total 3550 responses, 1257 (35.4%) were assessed as rational, 693 (19.5%) as neutral, 157 (4.4%) as harmful and 1440 (40.6%) as not related to the user’s problem. The original poster’s declaration of blood in stool, dyspepsia, pain in the abdominal right lower quadrant, weight loss or inflammatory bowel disease was positively related to obtaining at least one potentially harmful response. Advice from anonymous users on Internet forums may be irrational and disregards alarm symptoms, which can delay the diagnosis of life-threatening diseases.

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Abdominal Pain and Disturbed Bowel Movements are Frequent among Young People. A Population Based Study in Young Participants of the Woodstock Rock Festival in Poland

Cited by 14 publications

References 31 publications

‘Dr. Google, I have a stomach ache’ – seasonal variations in abdominal pain: a 4-year retrospective data analysis from Google Ads keywords planner

‘Dr. Google, I have a stomach ache’ – seasonal variations in abdominal pain: a 4-year retrospective data analysis from Google Ads keywords planner

Are probiotics useful in the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation in adults? A review of existing systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and recommendations

Analysis of Answers to Queries among Anonymous Users with Gastroenterological Problems on an Internet Forum

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