The pattern of child psychiatric disorders as seen at Kenyatta National Hospital
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Date
1983Author
Wakube, Aurelius W
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The study was undertaken to determine the pattern of
psychiatric disorders in children attending the Kenyatta National
Hospital Child Psychiatric Clinic. A total of seventy-one
children were seen over a seven months period. The diagnosis of
each child was presented according to the multi - axial
classification of Child psychiatric disorders in relation to the
Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases
(I C D - 9), section five. The results revealed a female to male
ratio of 1:1.15, an age range of four years to fifteen years and
a duration of symptoms of less than one year among 58% of the
children seen. The commonest symptom was fainting attacks. The
most frequent clinical psychiatric syndromes were neurotic disorders
and conduct disorders which accounted for 47% and 21% of all the
diagnoses respectively. 18% of the children had evidence of a
developmental disorder while 30% were mentally retarded. 32% of the
children had an associated medical condition the most frequent of which
was epilepsy. Abnormal psychosocial factors were present in 70%
of the children.
Publisher
Department of Paediatrics