Pattern of psychiatric disorders among young persons attending psychiatric clinics in Benin city: implications for health

Abstract

Background: Psychiatric disorders are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. From a lifespan perspective, youth is the peak period for the onset of mental illness and it is the young who carry the burden of mental ill-health. This study was carried out to assess the pattern and determinants of psychiatric disorders among young persons attending psychiatric clinics in Benin City, Edo State. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among young persons attending psychiatric clinics in Benin City using a multi-stage sampling technique for selection. Pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analyzed with IBM SPSS version 21.0 software. Bivariate analysis between socio-demographic variables/risk factors and the psychiatric disorders of the respondents was done. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: A total of 427 young persons with mean age (SD) of 20.3±4.0 years participated in the study. One hundred and six (24.8%) of the respondents suffered schizophrenia while depression, mania and unspecified psychosis accounted for 74 (17.3%), 49 (11.5%) and 36 (8.4%) respectively. One hundred and thirty eight (32.3%) of the respondents had a history of substance abuse and over three quarters 376 (88.1%) had family support. Majority of the respondents 412 (96.5%) were currently on psychotropic medications. Conclusions: This study showed that schizophrenia was the commonest psychiatric disorder followed by depression, mania and unspecified psychosis. Efforts should be made by relevant stakeholders to educate the public about mental health disorders and its predisposing risk factors.