Just in TIME - Intervention With Dance and Yoga for Girls With Recurrent Abdominal Pain

Recurrent abdominal pain affects up to 37% of school-age children, mostly girls. These problems results in decreased quality-of-life, absence from school, lower sleep quality and increased health-care consumption. Long-term effects are lasting pain-symptoms and increased risk for psychiatric illness. The scientific evidence for interventions towards long-term pain in children is limited and pharmacological treatment is not effective. Cognitive behavioral therapy has shown some effect but is time- and resource consuming. Dance and yoga can enhance positive protective factors through better body awareness and increased self-regulation. Relaxation in yoga also has positive effect on abdominal pain. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of an intervention with dance and yoga for girls, 9 to 13 years old, with recurrent abdominal pain. The participants will be identified through pediatric clinics in Örebro County, primary health care and school health care. They will be randomized to intervention with weekly dance- and yoga class for 8 months or control group with standard treatment. Primary outcome is the fraction of girls in each group who, direct after intervention, has decreased their maximum pain measured by Faces Pain Scale. Secondary outcomes are stress, psychical health, well-being, school and sleep functions, physical activity and health-economy. The study group will be followed up for two years. Just-in-TIME is an interdisciplinary research group with expertise in interventions for psychosomatic problems in children and adolescents. TIME, which stands for Try, Identify, Move and Enjoy, also characterizes this project, aiming at decreasing recurrent abdominal pain through an intervention with dance and yoga for 9-13 year old girls.