Behaviour disorders in urban primary school children in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Data on the prevalence and correlates of behaviour disorders in children are scanty or absent in many countries, including Bangladesh. A sample of primary school children in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, was screened during February to April 1994 with the Rutter B2 Scale to estimate the prevalences of different types of behaviour disorders and to assess whether and how these prevalences were associated with the children's age and gender, and gender segregation at school. Of the 1288 children in grades 1 to 5 screened, 13.4% had some type of behaviour disorder, with males more than twice as commonly affected as females (20.4 vs 9.9%). Emotional, conduct, and undifferentiated disorders were detected in 3.2, 8.9 and 1.2%, respectively, of the children. All three disorders were more prevalent in males than in females. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, significant positive correlates were male gender (odds ratio (OR):3.1) and higher grades (reference:grades 1-2; OR for grade 3:9.1; OR for grade 5:4.2) for conduct disorder, and male gender (OR:3.1) and higher grade (OR for grade 3:6.2) for all disorders combined. None of the three independent variables examined was significantly associated with emotional disorder. Separate analyses could not be done for undifferentiated disorder because of the small numbers involved. The high prevalence of behaviour disorders in Dhaka city primary school children suggest that a mental health care programme for these children comprising screening and, if indicated, full evaluation and expert care would be worthwhile.