Adolescent Chest Pain: A Prospective Study

One hundred adolescents with chest pain were prospectively analyzed to determine the etiology, functional consequences, and illness attributions of patients seen in a general pediatric clinic. The typical patient had frequent pain (63% had two or more episodes weekly) of moderate duration (51% of the pain lasted longer than six minutes) that had been occurring for many months (36% had pain occurring longer than 6 months). Stressful events, such as a death in the family, major illness, an accident, family separations, and school changes occurred in 31% of patients. The most frequently diagnosed condition was musculoskeletal problems (31%) including costochondritis (14%), chest wall syndrome (13%), skeletal trauma (2%), and ribcage anomalies (2%). Hyperventilation accounted for 20% of diagnoses and 5% had breast-related problems. Thirty-nine percent of patients had pain not readily classifiable. Serious underlying illness was a rare cause of chest pain, although several patients had associated organic disease not responsible for their chest pain. More than two thirds of patients restricted physical activities; more than 40% were absent from school. When patients were questioned about their understanding of their illness, 44% were afraid that they were experiencing a heart attack, 12% worried about heart disease, and 12% feared cancer. Chest pain is a prevalent problem that is usually benign but is commonly misunderstood and causes considerable dysfunction and anxiety in adolescents.