Abstract
Introduction: Chest pain is a common complaint among children and adolescents, in such a way that 10% of students experience chest pain attacks and are the second leading cause of referral to pediatric cardiologists. Chest pain in children (unlike adults) is rarely a sign of heart disease.
Objectives: Due to the high prevalence of chest pain among children and adolescents, the rarity of heart disease and its association with psychological causes were investigated.
Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 41 patients (18 boys and 23 females) with a mean age of 11.51 (ranging from at least 8 years old and up to 17 years old) were recruited from referrals to cardiac clinic of Motahari hospital complaining of chest pain. We evaluated the diagnosis of non-cardiac chest pain using a “How do you feel about yourself” questionnaire that was interpreted based on the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (SCARED) criteria.
Results: According to our study, 22 subjects (53.7%) had anxiety disorders including 10 boys (55.5%) and 12 girls (52.17%). In the study of parents with anxiety disorders, it was found that parental of 14 subjects (34.1%) had under diploma education and 6 subjects (14.6%) had diploma, and 2 subjects (4.87%) had university education.
Conclusion: Non-cardiac chest pain is a relatively common manifestation of cardiovascular referrals with anxiety disorders, which was significantly correlated with parental education, but had no significant relationship with gender and age of the individual.