Psychiatric disorders in a paediatric primary care clinic.
BACKGROUND
The proportion of children with psychiatric disorders treated in primary care is not known in most developing countries.


METHODS
In a two-stage epidemiological study, 990 children aged between 7 and 14 years were screened with the parents' version of the Rutter scale. Of these, a stratified sample of 227 was interviewed jointly with their mothers, using the children's version of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS).


RESULTS
We obtained a weighted prevalence of 19.6 +/- 2.5% for the presence of one or more DSM-III-R disorders. Depressive disorders were present in 6.0%, anxiety-related disorders in 4.7%, and conduct disorders in 6.1%.


CONCLUSIONS
Psychiatric disorders in children are common in primary care. Doctors working at this level of care need the skills to detect and treat them.
Gureje
O
O
Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Omigbodun
O O
OO
Gater
R
R
Acha
R A
RA
Ikuesan
B A
BA
Morris
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012494:Sampling Studies