title: Psychiatric morbidity of second and third grade primary school children in Korea.
abstract: This study was undertaken to identify psychiatric morbidity among Korean second and third elementary school children using an objective diagnostic interview tool. Data from 5,118 (2,723 boys, 2,395 girls; mean age = 8.41 years (SD = 0.66)) second and third grade schoolchildren were drawn from 28 elementary schools. After initial screening assessments using the 28-item Child Problem-Behavior Screening Test for parents, 672 primary caregivers were subjected to secondary screening using the Korean version of the CBCL. Two hundred and seventy-one high-risk children selected according to the K-CBCL results, 138 (50.9%) children and their primary caregivers were interviewed using the Korean version of K-SADS-PL for objective DSM-IV psychiatric diagnoses. Sixty-four (46.4%) of the hundred and thirty eight children were determined to have at least one psychiatric disorder. More boys were diagnosed as psychiatric patients than girls (46 males, 18 females; OR = 2.21). The most frequently diagnosed disorder was ADHD (46/64; 71.9%), followed by tic disorder, anxiety disorders, mental retardation, oppositional defiant disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. Two or more comorbid psychiatric disorders were found in 22 (34.4%) of the 64 patients. The computed crude percentage of psychiatric patients in this study was 4.12%, which is similar to previously published data.
authors.affiliation: Seoul National University, Chongno-gu, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires