[Epidemiological survey of psychiatric disorders of Japanese school children. Part 2. Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in school children].
An epidemiological survey of mental health of Japanese regular public school children was performed using both Rutter's teacher's and parent's questionnaires as a screening instrument and a diagnostic interview as a definitive method. A total of 592 junior high and elementary school children, average age 13.2 years old and ranging from 10 to 15 years old, were examined in the preliminary survey. Purposes were to study survey methodology and to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders. In part 1, the Japanese version of Rutter's questionnaire was found to be satisfactory for screening, and the diagnostic interview by pediatricians in this survey was shown to be a reliable tool for the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders of the adolescent. In the present study, psychiatric disorder prevalence and characteristics were studied. The 592 school children were divided into 3 groups by the Rutter's questionnaires: 1) 55 positive children by Rutter's method, 2) 424 negative children having no risk factors by Rutter's method, 3) 112 negative children by Rutter's method having some risk factors such as "school problems", "visits to school nurse", and "not being liked by peers". All of the 55 positive children and 144 children randomly selected from the negative group were interviewed and diagnosed by pediatricians, and estimates of prevalence rates for mental disorder were determined for the 3 children groups. It was 51% in the positive group, 11% in the negative group having no risk factors, and 25% in the negative group having some risk factors. Thus, the prevalence rate for the total group of 591 children was 17%, with one case of mental retardation being excluded.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Suzuki
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Department of Public Health, Gunma University of Medicine.
Suzuki
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Morita
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D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence