title: Mental health problems in children and adolescents referred to a national epilepsy center.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of psychiatric morbidity in children and adolescents referred to a tertiary national epilepsy center (inpatient unit) and the extent of the unmet need for psychiatric services in this group. Participants were 74 children and adolescents aged 9-15 referred from February 2001 to October 2002 (67% response rate). The multi-informant (parent, teacher, self-report) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaires (SDQs) were answered before or at admission. Patients with severe mental retardation or pervasive developmental disorder were excluded. We found a large proportion (77%) with a possible or probable psychiatric disorder. The parents, teachers, and adolescents themselves had higher mean SDQ scores than a British community sample on total difficulties, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity-inattention, peer problems, and impairment, but not self-reported conduct problems. Nearly 80% of the children who probably had a psychiatric disorder had no contact with the psychiatric service.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway,Oslo, Norway. ketil.hanssen-bauer@r-bup.no
authors.forename: Ketil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hanssen-Bauer
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heyerdahl
authors.forename: Ann-Sofie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Eriksson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000465:Algorithms; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D010290:Parents; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants