Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. Sep 9, 2025; 14(3): 101476
Published online Sep 9, 2025. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v14.i3.101476
Validating a novel scoring system for the assessment and treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders in children
Bhaswati Chakrabarti Acharyya, Pritha Das, Meghdeep Mukhopadhyay
Bhaswati Chakrabarti Acharyya, Pritha Das, Meghdeep Mukhopadhyay, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Institute of Child Health, Kolkata 700017, West Bengal, India
Bhaswati Chakrabarti Acharyya, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Manipal Hospital, Kolkata 700099, West Bengal, India
Co-first authors: Bhaswati Chakrabarti Acharyya and Pritha Das.
Author contributions: Das P contributed to writing, draft preparation, reviewing; Acharyya BC contributed to conceptualization, methodology, supervision, data collection and analysis and writing; Mukhopadhyay M supervised data collection, reviewing and editing of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: Ethical clearance was obtained from the institutional review board.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained before inclusion of the children into the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: The technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset are available from the corresponding author at (bacharyya21@gmail.com). Participants gave informed consent for data sharing.
Open Access: This article 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 NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bhaswati Chakrabarti Acharyya, DNB, FRCP, MBBS, MD, MRCP, Professor, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Institute of Child Health, 11, Dr Biresh Guha Street, Kolkata 700017, West Bengal, India. bacharyya21@gmail.com
Received: September 15, 2024
Revised: February 13, 2025
Accepted: March 25, 2025
Published online: September 9, 2025
Processing time: 273 Days and 18.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), defined as ‘Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction’, are now considered a global health problem. There is a dearth of concepts and scales to assess the severity of the different symptoms encountered while dealing with the variety of FGIDs as described in the ROME IV classification. We introduced a novel scoring system with the incorporation of 16 different symptoms called Bacharyya’s Questionnaire Scale and started using it while dealing with children suffering from FGIDs.

AIM

To verify the usefulness and applicability of this recently developed scale, this study was undertaken with the objectives to establish the validity of this scoring system in assessing the severity of symptoms associated with a specific FGID in children and to determine the scoring system's applicability in assessing the treatment response.

METHODS

The study included children aged 5 to 18 years diagnosed with any FGID based on ROME IV criteria. They completed the newly developed scale and a Visual Analog Scale at initial diagnosis and after a 2-month treatment period. A control group without FGID participated for comparative baseline purposes. Treatment response was defined as a less than or equal to 50% reduction in the total score, which is statistically significant.

RESULTS

Results from a comprehensive cohort of 190 cases and 90 controls indicated a female preponderance (57.9%) and prevalent disorders such as functional constipation (28%) and functional abdominal pain, not otherwise specified (21%). The grade of FGID (mild, moderate, severe) experienced by the patients was also derived. Post-treatment, 96 children demonstrated symptom improvement. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient for pre (r = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.65-0.77, P value < 0.0001) and post (r = 0.49, 95%CI: 0.3-0.64, P value < 0.0001) treatment data showed positive results with significant P values.

CONCLUSION

The novel scoring system shows high comprehensibility and gives an objective view of the symptomatology of FGIDs. The use of this novel score in clinical settings will be helpful to typify the FGIDs and may significantly improve decision-making processes to initiate appropriate treatment.

Keywords: Score; Functional gastrointestinal disorder; Children; Questionnaire; Scale; Quality of life

Core Tip: This study introduced and validated a novel scoring system, Bacharyya’s Questionnaire Scale (BQS), to assess the severity of symptoms in children with Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (FGIDs). The BQS, developed to capture a broad range of symptoms outlined in the ROME IV criteria, was verified in 190 children. The results revealed a significant correlation between the BQS and symptom severity. This scale also effectively tracked the treatment responses. The BQS offers a comprehensive and practical tool for clinical decision-making in FGIDs, enhancing treatment personalization and improving health-related quality of life.