Mental and physical health of out of school children in a South African township.
BACKGROUND
Poor school attendance has negative consequences for the individual and society. We investigated physical and mental health correlates of school attendance amongst black children in Cape Town, South Africa.


METHODS
We undertook a cross-sectional community study of children, aged 6-16 years, living in Khayelitsha township. Multistage sampling produced a sample of 499 children. They, and/or their parents, were interviewed using a Xhosa translation of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children Version 2.3 (DISC-2.3). Prevalence of mental and physical health problems of school attenders were compared with those of non-attenders.


RESULTS
23.6 % of children were not attending school. Young children from unserviced areas were at particular risk. Male school attenders suffered higher levels of chronic illness than non-attenders. No differences in the prevalences of psychiatric disorders were found.


CONCLUSIONS
There is no significant excess of physical or mental health problems in out of school children. Poverty plays an important role in failure to attend school.
Liang
Holan
H
Pervasive Developmental Disorder Department, The Michael Rutter Centre for Children and Young People, The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ, UK.
Flisher
Alan J
AJ
Chalton
Derek O
DO
D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D013332:Student Dropouts / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data