title: Manic-depressive psychosis in children younger than 15 years: a register-based investigation of 39 cases in Denmark.
abstract: Using a nationwide psychiatric case register covering a background population of 5.1 million inhabitants, 39 children (23 boys, 16 girls) were identified who got the diagnosis of manic-depressive psychosis between 1970 and 1986 before the age of 15. The frequency of manic-depressive psychosis in this child psychiatric population was 1.2%. The mean age for first-time admission with this diagnosis was 12.7 years. There was no sex difference. Twenty-six of the children got the diagnosis of manic-depressive psychosis during their first admission. Survival analysis was used to describe the prognosis and the diagnostic development of the group. As a whole, the group had a poor prognosis with many readmissions. The most common differential diagnoses were other types of psychosis in boys and oppositional and emotional disorders in girls.
authors.affiliation: Aarhus Child Psychiatric Hospital, Risskov, Denmark.
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Møller
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dehlholm
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Brask
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries