Clinico-Epidemiological Profile of Psychiatric Disorders Among Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Southern India

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health disorders are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide and it is as common in children. Anywhere between one to three children may be suffering from psychiatric disorders at any point in time. Aim: This study intended to find the pattern of psychiatric disorders and associated sociodemographic factors among children attending the psychiatric department in a tertiary care hospital in Southern India. Materials and Methods: An analysis was conducted of patients who attended the psychiatric clinic from April 2012 to March 2013. Disorders were classified according to International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition (ICD-10) criteria. Data obtained was analysed by SPSS 11.5 version. Chi-square test was used to see association and p<0.05 was taken as significant. Results: The mean age of the children was 10.9 years (SD=4.3). Predominance of males was noticed. It was seen that the male children, mostly suffered from Pervasive and specific developmental disorders (n=105; 31.1%). While in the female children, a prominence of anxiety, dissociative, stress-related, somatoform and other non-psychotic mental disorders was seen (n=52; 27.1%). Co-morbidity of psychiatric disorders was seen with intellectual disability and a seasonal predominance of psychiatric disorders was seen during autumn. Conclusion: Children presenting with psychiatric disorders in the hospital showed a wide age range and among them, males outnumbered females. Psychiatric disorders showed seasonal variation and the types of disorder varied significantly with age, gender and religion.