Apr 22, 2014 12:19 PM EDT By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

There has been an increase in the prevalence of celiac disease among children with irritable bowel syndrome, according to a recent study.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine with symptoms that includes pain and discomfort in the digestive tract, chronic constipation and diarrhea, and fatigue. However, the disease is often asymptomatic.

Recurrent abdominal pain affects 10 percent to 15 percent of school-aged children. The prevalence of celiac disease is as high as 1 percent in European countries.

"The identification of [irritable bowel syndrome] as a high-risk condition for celiac disease might be of help in pediatric primary care because it might have become routine to test for celiac disease indiscriminately in all children with recurrent abdominal pain, although our finding suggests that the screening should be extended only to those with [irritable bowel syndrome]," researchers said in the study.

For the study, researchers assessed the prevalence of celiac disease in 992 children with abdominal pain-related disorders: irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia (indigestion) and functional abdominal pain. The final study group included 782 children: 270 with irritable bowel syndrome, 201 with functional dyspepsia and 311 with functional abdominal pain.

Researchers performed blood tests on all the children and 15 patients tested positive for celiac: 12 (4.4 percent) of the children with irritable bowel syndrome, 2 (1 percent) of the children with functional dyspepsia and 1 (0.3 percent) of the children with functional abdominal pain.

Based on their findings, the prevalence of celiac among children with IBS was four times higher than the general pediatric population.

"This new approach might have important implications for the cost of care because it has been estimated that in children with FGIDs, screening tests are common, costs are substantial, and the yield is minimal," researchers said.

The findings were recently published in JAMA Pediatrics.

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