Evaluation of Psychiatric Disorders Among Children and Adolescents Who Applied to an Outpatient Service

INTRODUCTION: The study aimed to make a semi-structured evaluation of children and adolescents who applied to child psychiatry outpatient clinic of a hospital and to identify psychiatric disorders in this group. METHODS: The sample is constitued by 118 children (7-12 years) and 103 adolescents (13-17 years) between ages 7-18 years, who applied to the outpatient clinic between February-April 2015, with the exclusion of children who apply for legal reporting about children's health status. Psychopathologies in children and adolescents were evaluated by detailed psychiatric examination, along with 'Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL)'. RESULTS: Mean age was found as 11.8+-3.0 years, and the majority of the sample was formed (60.2%) by boys. Almost half of the sample (47%) had at least two psychiatric comorbidities. The most prevalent psychiatric disorders were Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (35.5%), specific phobias (27.6%), other anxiety disorders (19.5%), oppositional defiant disorder (18.6%), depression (17.6%), obsessive compulsive disorder (14.9%), tic disorders (10.9%), enuresis nocturna (9.5%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (5%) respectively. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (P=0.020) and oppositional defiant disorder (P=0.003) were more common among boys, while specific phobias (P=0.010) and other anxiety disorders (P=0.049) were more prevalent among girls. No psychopathology was observed in 47 (21.3%) children and adolescents. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Our results showed male dominancy in applications to our outpatient clinic. Anxiety disorders were more prevalent among girls while attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder were more prevalent among boys. Comorbidity rates were also high.