【Background】 Yogo teachers (school nurse/health teacher in the Japanese school system) are required to promptly evaluate and respond to the physical symptom of the school children that visit the school health room. Abdominal pain is one of the most frequent complaints, but few tools to assess this pain have been developed, which consider both psychological and physical factors.
【Purpose】 In this study, we developed an assessment sheet for abdominal pain (ASAP) and evaluated its usefulness so Yogo teachers can concisely and promptly assess the abdominal pain in school children.
【Method】 First, a nine-member study group developed a Fishbone Diagram (FD) using Quality Control (QC) method. The diagram was then analyzed, taking into account both physical and psycho-social/lifestyle factors in the children, and used to create the ASAP. Usefulness of the sheet was tested with the cooperation of 167 Yogo teachers, who participated in a workshop for ASAP, after approval for use in their school health rooms. After testing, usefulness of the sheet was evaluated using a questionnaire. The test was conducted from August 23, 2014 to December 6, 2014. The assessment examination was used to evaluate students on a scoring system. Comparison and analysis of results were compiled averaging scores for type of school (elementary vs. junior and senior high schools), teacher's judgment and difference in response to student's pain, using multiple comparisons by Bonferonni method.
【Results】 Forty-seven items were abstracted from three FD, made using QC method, to create the ASAP in school children. The score of the ASAP was significantly different between primary school and junior/senior high school (p＜0.05). Yogo teachers' decision whether they should make school children rest in the health room (or let them go home) or not was significantly correlated with the score (p＜0.01).
【Conclusion】 We developed an assessment sheet to evaluate complaints of abdominal pain in school children. The developed sheet will be a useful tool to help Yogo teachers appropriately deal with the complaints.
