May 26, 2011

Children who are physically abused tend to have higher rates of “functional somatic syndromes” such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome when they grow up, says a study published in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma. Functional somatic syndromes are conditions where there are physical symptoms but no findings on blood or imaging tests.

Chronic fatigue syndrome has symptoms of severe fatigue, memory and sleep problems, and pain in muscles and joints. Fibromyalgia is continual widespread pain throughout the body. Irritable bowel syndrome is abdominal pain with diarrhea or constipation.

Researchers at University of Toronto studied the prevalence of these conditions and a fourth functional somatic syndrome called multiple chemical sensitivities, which is hypersensitivity to common chemical products like perfumes.

They used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey conducted by Statistics Canada in 2007. This is a survey that gathers data on Canadians related to health status and health care use. The researchers studied data on females only because women are more likely than men to suffer from these syndromes. The survey asked whether participants had experienced physical abuse as children but did not ask about sexual or emotional abuse or neglect.

Of the 7342 women surveyed, 10 per cent reported having been physically abused as children. The prevalence of the four conditions studied were: 1.3 per cent for chronic fatigue syndrome, 2.5 per cent for fibromyalgia, 4.2 per cent for irritable bowel syndrome, and 2.7 per cent for multiple chemical sensitivities.

Childhood physical abuse was associated with higher rates of all four conditions when controlling for age and race. “Women who reported they had been physically abused as children had twice the odds of chronic fatigue syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivities, and 65 per cent higher odds of fibromyalgia,” says lead investigator Esme Fuller-Thomson.

The researchers found that the relationship between childhood physical abuse and chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and multiple chemical sensitivities persisted even after they controlled for factors such as other adverse childhood experiences, mental health, and adult socioeconomic status/stressors.

There may be a few reasons for this. Some researchers think that child abuse may trigger structural changes in the body that make a person more vulnerable to illness. Others suggest that prolonged exposure to trauma in childhood might increase the brain's sensitivity to stress throughout life.

The researchers suggest that primary care physicians ask questions about childhood physical abuse and other adverse childhood experiences when assessing patients for these syndromes.

They also suggest that further studies be conducted on the relationship between functional somatic syndromes and other types of childhood abuse and stressors.

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