Background and aim of the work: Psychiatric disorders are widespread and affect not only adults, but children and teenagers as well. In the trend of these psychological conditions, the age factor plays an important role. The goal of our research was to establish the trend of psychiatric morbidity in children and adolescents attending the outpatient clinic at Al Zahraa University Hospital.
Subjects and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study was carried out during the period from July 2017 to February 2018 including 325 patients recruited from the Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic at Al Zahraa University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. After a comprehensive clinical review, the state of mental health and psychological morbidity was evaluated. A clinical psychologist tested the intelligence quotient when necessary. All the diagnoses were made on the basis of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revised criteria (DSM IV-TR).
Results: The majority of patients were in the 6-12 age group(73%). Boys (67 %) dominated girls (33%).the most common diagnoses were Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (37%) and mental retardation (18%), followed by Major depressive disorder (13%). In relation to gender, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Disruptive behavior disorder (DBD), Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), Major depressive disorder (MDD) and Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) were significantly different according to gender.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate the need for efficient hospital-based program, through screening, effective referral, and subsequent management that can enhance early detection and management of psychiatric disorders among children and adolescents.