Parents’ experience when their child has chronic abdominal pain: a qualitative study in Norway

OBJECTIVE: Functional abdominal pain occurs frequently in children and adolescents. It is an exclusion diagnosis; somatic diseases have to be ruled out. However little explanation is given for why the child is experiencing pain. The aim was to explore the experiences of parents of children with chronic abdominal pain discharged from hospital without a somatic explanation. DESIGN: The study has a qualitative design. The open questions concerned pain experiences and management. Interviews were conducted at the hospital, at the parents’ workplace or in their homes, audiotape recorded and transcribed. A descriptive content analysis was used to analyse the transcribed text. SETTING: Parents of children referred from general practice located in urban and rural areas in two municipals in Norway. PARTICIPANTS: Fourteen parents of children with functional abdominal pain aged 5–15 years. RESULTS: Fourteen parents participated. Some explained that their child’s disability glued the parents together on a common project to help the child. Other parents could tell that siblings got less attention and complained about too much fuss during pain. Parents wished for diagnosis that could be treated efficiently. Some were still anxious that an undetected condition triggered pain. They prompted their doctor to do further examinations. However, some parents knew that social factors could inflict pain and were concerned that their child was unable to distinguish sensations like anxiety and ‘butterfly’ tensions from physical pain. The parents and children needed professional guidance on how to manage the pain. CONCLUSION: The doctor’s consultation should not end at the diagnosis of functional abdominal pain. Doctors may help these families further by focusing on pain management strategies.