Table 1 Characteristics of patients and test results
From: Significance of hydrogen breath tests in children with suspected carbohydrate malabsorption
All | 3-5 yrs | 6-8 yrs | 9-11 yrs | 12-14 yrs | 15-18 yrs | Male | Female | Follow-up patients | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Patients, n (%) | 206 (100) | 23 (11) | 47 (23) | 51 (25) | 32 (16) | 51 (25) | 87 (42) | 119 (58) | 118 (57) |
Sex, female/male ratio | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.8 | 1.7 | — | — | 1.4 |
Age, years (median) | 10.7 | 4.3 | 7.2 | 10.0 | 12.9 | 16.3 | 10.3 | 11.1 | 10.5 |
Indication, n (%) | |||||||||
Abdominal pain | N/A | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 66 (56) |
Diarrhea | 6 (5) | ||||||||
Abdominal pain + diarrhea | 36 (31) | ||||||||
Other | 10 (8) | ||||||||
Breath tests, n (% positive) | |||||||||
Total | 449 (45) | 44 (41) | 107 (45) | 117 (44) | 73 (52) | 108 (41) | 190 (38) | 259 (49) | 261 (46) |
Fructose | 142 (39) | 6 (46) | 19 (56) | 15 (38) | 10 (42) | 5 (16) | 21 (36) | 34 (41) | 87 (39) |
Lactose | 161 (22) | 4 (19) | 6 (14) | 9 (24) | 6 (26) | 11 (29) | 16 (22) | 20 (23) | 90 (23) |
Sorbitol | 146 (75) | 8 (80) | 23 (74) | 28 (68) | 22 (85) | 28 (74) | 36 (62) | 73 (83) | 84 (79) |
Symptoms at test performance, n (%) | |||||||||
Abdominal pain | N/A | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 68 (58) |
Diarrhea | 11 (9) | ||||||||
Abdominal pain + diarrhea | 44 (37) | ||||||||
Skin blushing | 10 (8) | ||||||||
Nausea | 8 (7) | ||||||||
Constipation | 2 (2) | ||||||||
Other | 8 (7) | ||||||||
Multiple tests, n (%) | |||||||||
1 test performed | 60 (29) | 10 (43) | 14 (29) | 11 (20) | 7 (19) | 18 (38) | 29 (33) | 31 (26) | 35 (30) |
2 tests performed | 49 (24) | 5 (22) | 9 (19) | 13 (26) | 8 (26) | 11 (21) | 13 (20) | 33 (28) | 25 (21) |
3 tests performed | 97 (47) | 8 (35) | 25 (52) | 27 (54) | 17 (55) | 22 (41) | 45 (52) | 54 (46) | 58 (49) |
Multiple test results, n (%) | |||||||||
All negative | 63 (31) | 10 (43) | 16 (34) | 15 (29) | 7 (22) | 15 (29) | 36 (41) | 27 (23) | 33 (28) |
1 of 3 tests positive | 38 (18) | 3 (13) | 9 (19) | 8 (16) | 8 (25) | 10 (20) | 13 (15) | 25 (21) | 24 (20) |
2 of 3 tests positive | 37 (18) | 1 (4) | 10 (21) | 13 (25) | 7 (22) | 6 (12) | 18 (21) | 19 (16) | 21 (18) |
1 of 2 tests positive | 30 (15) | 3 (13) | 7 (15) | 6 (12) | 3 (9) | 10 (20) | 9 (10) | 21 (18) | 11 (9) |
1 of 1 test positive | 21 (10) | 4 (17) | 2 (4) | 6 (12) | 2 (6) | 6 (12) | 7 (8) | 13 (11) | 8 (8) |
2 of 2 tests positive | 10 (5) | 1 (4) | 2 (4) | 2 (4) | 4 (13) | 1 (2) | 1 (1) | 9 (8) | 16 (14) |
3 of 3 tests positive | 7 (3) | 1 (4) | 2 (4) | 1 (2) | 1 (3) | 2 (4) | 3 (3) | 4 (3) | 5 (4) |