Abstract
BackgroundThe Erbil psychiatric hospital is the major governmental psychiatric facility in the governorate of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, providing services for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients from the city and its surrounding areas. The child and adolescent outpatient clinic in the hospital is for patients younger than 18 years. The objectives of this study were to explore the sociodemographic, pregnancy and birth characteristics, as well as the clinical profiles, of patients who presented to the child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic to statistically estimate the frequency of various psychiatric disorders among the attendees and to test hypotheses of the association of these psychiatric disorders with sociodemographic and birth and pregnancy characteristics as reported by many previous studies but with inconsistent results.MethodsA descriptive consecutive cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2017 to February 2018 in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic in Erbil province of Iraq’s Kurdistan region. The diagnostic criteria of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition) were implemented. Chi-square tests were used to test the hypothesized associations.ResultsOf a total of 207 patients, 142 were males and 65 were females, and most lived in low socioeconomic status. Most of the patients’ fathers were school educated, and most mothers were illiterate. Consanguinity was found in 41% of the parents, 26.6% of the patients were born by caesarean section(C/S), 62.8% were nurtured exclusively by breastfeeding in their first six months after birth, 42.5% of them visited faith healers before consulting a psychiatrist, 43% had neurodevelopmental disorders, 26.6% had intellectual disabilities with behavioral and emotional comorbidities and 30.4% had other mental/behavioral disorders.ConclusionThis study revealed that the child and adolescent psychiatric disorders in Erbil city are versatile and that many factors are significantly associated with them. Cultural concepts are still influential in the region in a way that can interfere with children’s well-being, a situation that calls for more concern and attention.
Highlights
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10–20% of children and adolescents experience mental disorders worldwide[1], and the roughly estimated prevalence in Iraq and other countries in the region is 10–36%, which is significantly higher than the estimates for developed countries[2]
Consanguinity was found in 41% of the parents, 26.6% of the patients were born by caesarean section(C/S), 62.8% were nurtured exclusively by breastfeeding in their first six months after birth, 42.5% of them visited faith healers before consulting a psychiatrist, 43% had neurodevelopmental disorders, 26.6% had intellectual disabilities with behavioral and emotional comorbidities and 30.4% had other mental/behavioral disorders
This study revealed that the child and adolescent psychiatric disorders in Erbil city are versatile and that many factors are significantly associated with them
Summary
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 10–20% of children and adolescents experience mental disorders worldwide[1], and the roughly estimated prevalence in Iraq and other countries in the region is 10–36%, which is significantly higher than the estimates for developed countries[2]. These disorders are the leading cause of disability in young people in all regions. This study aimed to shed light upon patients attending the child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic at Erbil Psychiatric Hospital through documenting their psychiatric disorders and studying the association of these disorders with some of the commonly purported parental, perinatal and sociodemographic factors. The objectives of this study were to explore the sociodemographic, pregnancy and birth characteristics, as well as the clinical profiles, of patients who presented to the child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic to statistically estimate the frequency of various psychiatric disorders among the attendees and to test hypotheses of the association of these psychiatric disorders with sociodemographic and birth and pregnancy characteristics as reported by many previous studies but with inconsistent results
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