Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37659029›Full record

Trial reportChild psychiatry and human development2025

Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Pediatric Patients with Anxiety Disorders and Their Relationship to Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Treatment or Placebo.

W Thomas Baumel, Jeffrey A Mills, Heidi K Schroeder, Zoe Neptune, Amir Levine, Jeffrey R Strawn

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Child psychiatry and human development, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
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  5. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

W Thomas BaumelDepartment of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, 77 Vilcom Center Dr, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA. william.baumel@unchealth.unc.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4589-1567
Jeffrey A MillsDepartment of Economics, Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2469-1796
Heidi K SchroederDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Anxiety Disorders Research Program, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Zoe NeptuneDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Anxiety Disorders Research Program, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Amir LevineDepartment of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Jeffrey R StrawnDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Anxiety Disorders Research Program, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7526-2641
University of Cincinnati Medical Center · USCincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center · USColumbia University Irving Medical Center · USUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · US

Funding

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development R01HD098757Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute PCORI PEDS-2019C1-16328
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Gastrointestinal symptoms are commonly reported as adverse effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the first-line pharmacologic treatment for pediatric anxiety disorders; however, the temporal course of these symptoms during treatment, although believed to be transient, has never been prospectively evaluated. Additionally, rates of gastrointestinal symptoms and functional gastrointestinal syndromes in anxious youth are poorly understood. We examined gastrointestinal symptoms in youth with anxiety disorders during a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of escitalopram (n = 51). Then, in a separate sample of prospectively treated children and adolescents with generalized, social and/or separation anxiety disorders (n = 56), we examined the frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms based on the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms (QPGS) and ROME III criteria and the association of these symptoms with clinical and demographic characteristics using logistic regression. The frequency/severity of abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloating constipation or total gastrointestinal symptoms did not differ between patients receiving placebo (n = 25) or escitalopram (n = 26). However, escitalopram-treated youth had transient changes in nausea/vomiting and total upper gastrointestinal symptoms during the first two weeks of treatment. ROME III criteria for functional gastrointestinal syndromes were present in 12/56 patients (21.4%). QPGS-related functional gastrointestinal syndromes and symptoms were unrelated to treatment, treatment type, or clinical or demographic variables. Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in youth with anxiety and SSRIs produce transient-rather than sustained-gastrointestinal symptoms. Assessing gastrointestinal symptoms prior to pharmacotherapy and discussing factors that increase (or decrease) the likelihood of transient SSRI-related symptoms in youth may decrease patient uncertainty related to side effects and decrease medication-related anxiety.

Indexed as

Anxiety DisordersCitalopramEscitalopramGastrointestinal DiseasesSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsAdolescentChildDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMaleCitalopramEscitalopramSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsFunctional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID)Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)ROMESelective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)Side effects

Identifiers

PMID37659029
OpenAlexW4386391096

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.