The Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Adolescents in Rasht City

psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents are very important.To understand more of etiology, diagnosis and treatment as well as prevention, the first step is epidemiological studies.

To evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years in Rasht city and suburbs and the relation between the presence of a mental disorder and demographic characteristics of the children and the families.

This study is a cross-sectional analytical study conducted in Rasht city and suburbs.The statistical population includes 147653 children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years in Rasht and suburbs.We selected 1024 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years by multistage cluster random sampling method from urban and rural parts of Rasht. The clinical psychologists completed the Persian version of Kiddie-SADS-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). Data were analyzed by SPSS version 16 and were interpreted using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and odds ratios.

The overall prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years in Guilan province was 20/7% (95% confidence interval 18.33-23.29%). The most common disorder was any Anxiety disorder (14.1%). Based on the results,Separation anxiety disorder (6.6%), Generalized Anxiety (5/9%), Phobia (3/4%) and Agoraphobia (3/2%) were the most prevalent disorders in this population.

The high prevalence of anxiety disorders demands further consideration and treatment plans on the part of corresponding authorities.
Conflict of interest: non declared