title: Comorbidity in children with mental retardation.
abstract: This study was conducted in the child psychiatry unit of a tertiary psychiatric hospital. 60 patients diagnosed to have mental retardation according to ICD-10 (WHO, 1992) criteria constituted the study sample. A psychiatric disorder was present in 56.17% of the cases, and a medical disease was present in 35.0%. Only 13.3% cases had both a psychiatric as well as medical illness. Patients with a psychiatric illness were found to have a lesser degree of retardation. The commonest psychiatric disorder observed was behavioural and emotional disorders, while the commonest medical illness found was epilepsy. Patients with a medical illness were found to have a negative family history for a mental illness, and were much younger at the first consultation compared to the patients with a psychiatric illness. The above findings have been discussed, with emphasis on issues like dual diagnosis and diagnostic overshadowing.
authors.affiliation: CHRISTODAY R.J. KHESS, M.D., Associate Professor (Psychiatry), Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Ranchi - 834006.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Khess
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chakrabarty
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kothari