Psychiatric epidemiology in a sample of 1510 ten-year-old children--I. Prevalence.
Prevalence estimates of psychiatric disorder in 10-yr-old rural Norwegian children were based on responses to symptom checklists for parents and teachers. The parents' index showed highest validity, and was used as a basis for prevalence estimates. Properties of the index were shown to be sample specific, and a validity test should consequently always be administered to representative subsamples in psychiatric epidemiological studies based on symptom checklists. Prevalence of functional problems of a primarily psychological nature was calculated by proportional extrapolations from the validity test results. The prevalence rate for the total sample was 5%, and corrected prevalence when emigrants were excluded was 4.6%.
D002648:Child; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008603:Mental Health; D009664:Norway; D010290:Parents; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology; D014504:Urban Health