Insurance status predicts health care use and indirect disease burden in youth with functional abdominal pain disorders

The present study investigated patterns of health care utilization (HCU) and indirect disease burden for youth with pediatric functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPD) and explored whether health insurance status, a proxy for socioeconomic status (SES), plays a role in these patterns initially and over time. Participants included youth with FAPD (n = 99) at a large midwestern children's hospital who completed measures of HCU and indirect disease burden at initial visit and six month follow-up. Results suggest that public insurance status was generally related to higher HCU and indirect burden over time across multiple domains. Further, those with private insurance generally experience more reductions in HCU over time as compared to their publicly insured counterparts, though similar results were not observed on measures of indirect disease burden. Findings generally suggest higher HCU and indirect disease burden for youth with public (vs. private) health insurance within the pediatric FAPD population, suggesting a potential need for more targeted interventions and routine assessment.