COLUMBUS, Ohio—Children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may have difficulty functioning in school, particularly because their tendency to internalize problems can impact attendance. These are the findings from a Nationwide Children’s Hospital study appearing in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.
“Both IBD and its treatment have the potential to disrupt school functioning," said Wallace V. Crandall, MD, director of the Center for Pediatric and Adolescent Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Nationwide Children’s and study author. “Primary symptoms of IBD include abdominal pain, fatigue and diarrhea. Corticosteroids affect learning and memory and intravenous medication requiring hours in an infusion clinic."
Some research suggests that youth with IBD may have increased absences, but little is known about other areas of school functioning or related factors. “Children with other chronic illnesses have lower academic achievement than healthy children, but research on school functioning in IBD is limited," Laura M. Mackner, PhD, investigator in the Center for Biobehavioral Health at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s and principal investigator of the study.
