Prevalence of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders in southeast Brazil.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the prevalence of DSM-IV disorders and the pattern of comorbidity in a population-based sample of 7- to 14-year-old Brazilian schoolchildren.


METHODS
Random sampling of schools (stratified into private, public rural, and public urban) was followed by random sampling of pupils from school lists. In 2000-2001, a total of 1,251 children were assessed for DSM-IV diagnoses using the Development and Well-Being Assessment, a structured multiinformant assessment supplemented by verbatim reports reviewed by clinicians.


RESULTS
The response rate was 83%. The overall prevalence of DSM-IV disorders was 12.7% (95% confidence interval = 9.8%-15.5%), with 3.5% of children being assigned as not otherwise specified rather than operationalized diagnoses. The overall prevalence of psychiatric disorder was significantly higher than in a British study with the same measures and diagnostic procedures (12.7% versus 9.7%, p =.02).


CONCLUSIONS
Approximately one in eight schoolchildren in the study area in the southeast of Brazil have psychiatric disorders involving a level of distress or social impairment likely to warrant treatment. The gulf between need and provision is currently vast.
Fleitlich-Bilyk
Bacy
B
Department of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Goodman
Robert
R
D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence