Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of multimodal rheumatologic complex treatment (MRCT) in childhood and adolescence. MRCT means a high-frequency treatment program of at least 11 h per week. Methods: MRCTs in children, carried out between May 2009 and May 2022 at the Department of Pediatrics of the University Hospital in Halle (Saale), were included in this study. The effects of the MRCT were evaluated based on inflammatory activity, functionality (using the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ)), subjective statements regarding pain intensity, state of health, and coping with the illness, as well as the objective determination of joint mobility. Data were analyzed retrospectively using t-tests to compare different groups and values before and after treatment. Results: During the study period, N = 133 MRCTs were conducted in n = 95 children. The most common diagnosis was juvenile idiopathic arthritis (83.2%). The c-reactive protein (CRP) fell from an average of 25.3 mg/L to 7.3 mg/L, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) fell from 29.5 mm in the first hour to 17.9 mm. Pain intensity was reduced from 5.4 to 4.0. The state of health and coping with the illness also improved. The disability index showed a moderate reduction from 0.92 to 0.81. Furthermore, an improvement in joint mobility was observed. Positive effects were also shown in patients with somatoform disorders. Conclusions: Due to the positive effects of MRCT on subjective well-being and physical health, the treatment program can be recommended for affected children, including patients with an additional diagnosed somatoform disorder.

The aim of this study was to assess the mental health situation of children and adolescents during a period of less strict COVID-19-pandemic-related measures after the first pandemic wave. This cross-sectional study was conducted in July 2021 by carrying out an online survey among children and adolescents (aged 10–18 years) from Halle (Saale), Germany (n = 233). The questionnaire measured important aspects of mental health among young people, namely health-related quality of life (HRQoL, using the self-report version of the KIDSCREEN-10), mental health problems in general (using the SDQ), depressive symptoms (using the CES-DC), and psychosomatic complaints (using the HBSC symptom checklist). In addition, other important health issues such as sleep behavior and related difficulties, disordered eating, and any positive consequences of the pandemic were addressed. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 223 children participated in the survey. About 69.7% of the participating children and adolescents had a high HRQoL, while 10.5% displayed abnormal results on the SDQ. There were indications of emotional problems in 16.5% of the participants based on the SDQ subscales. Almost 44% of the participants were screened as positive for depressive symptoms on the CES-DC, with girls and older adolescents being more likely to be affected. This also applied for psychosomatic complaints. Here, irritability was experienced at least once a week or more frequently by 58.9% of the children and adolescents. Although we had a small sample size, this study showed a high prevalence of mental health problems regarding the SDQ and HRQoL. However, our study population showed a better mental health than comparable studies conducted earlier in the pandemic. Depressive symptoms were still substantially higher than those in pre-pandemic data. We hypothesize that this might reflect the fact that there were a few COVID-19-related restrictions at the time when our survey took place. Based on these findings, we assume that the mental health of children and adolescents differed between different phases in the pandemic.