Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 7, 2019; 25(5): 632-643
Published online Feb 7, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i5.632
Fatigue in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease
Els Van de Vijver, Ann Van Gils, Laura Beckers, Yannick Van Driessche, Nicolette Dorien Moes, Patrick Ferry van Rheenen
Els Van de Vijver, Ann Van Gils, Nicolette Dorien Moes, Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem B-2650, Belgium
Laura Beckers, Department of Anesthesiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem B-2650, Belgium
Yannick Van Driessche, Family Medicine, Deurne B-2100, Belgium
Patrick Ferry van Rheenen, Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen 9713 GZ, The Netherlands
Author contributions: Van de Vijver E designed research; Van de Vijver E, Van Gils A, Beckers L and Van Driessche Y performed research; Moes ND contributed new reagents or analytic tools; Van de Vijver E and Van Gils A analyzed data; Van de Vijver E and van Rheenen PF wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors have no conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The guidelines of the PRISMA 2009 statement were adopted.
Open-Access: This is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Els Van de Vijver, MD, Attending Doctor, Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Antwerp University Hospital, Wilrijkstraat 10, Edegem B-2650, Belgium. els.vandevijver@uza.be
Telephone: +32-3-8215524 Fax: +32-3-8291194
Received: October 2, 2018
Peer-review started: October 2, 2018
First decision: November 7, 2018
Revised: December 16, 2018
Accepted: December 19, 2018
Article in press: December 19, 2018
Published online: February 7, 2019
Processing time: 120 Days and 14.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often report fatigue as their most severe and distressing symptom. Fatigue is often attributed to active disease and anemia. We systematically reviewed the literature to identify additional factors that contribute to fatigue in pediatric IBD. After a strict selection process, eight studies were suitable for detailed data extraction. Increased anxiety or depression and disturbed family relations were frequently reported predictors of fatigue. This systematic review demonstrates the importance of evaluating biological, functional, and psychobehavioral factors to facilitate the optimal management of fatigue.