Abstract
BackgroundThough several epidemiological surveys of psychiatric disorders have been carried out in China, only a few of them are concerned about the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in central Hunan and reveal the distribution of common psychiatric disorders and their comorbidities.MethodsAchenbach’s Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI-KID), and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV) were administered to a stratified sample of 17,071 participants aged 6 to 16 years old from two cities in the central part of Hunan province. Twelve-month prevalence rates were calculated.ResultsTwelve-month prevalence of the population was 9.74%. The most common psychiatric disorders were attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (4.96%), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) (2.98%) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) (1.77%). Of those with a 12-month prevalence diagnosis, 34.6% had one or more comorbid psychiatric disorders. Most notably, ADHD had comorbidity rates of 25.15% with ODD, 18.18% with CD, 6.38% with GAD, and 3.66% with MDD.ConclusionsPsychiatric disorders are common in Chinese children and adolescents. Being the most prevalent mental disorder, ADHD requires continued focus and support in awareness and education.
Highlights
Though several epidemiological surveys of psychiatric disorders have been carried out in China, only a few of them are concerned about the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in central Hunan and reveal the distribution of common psychiatric disorders and their comorbidities
Boys showed a significantly higher prevalence than girls in terms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and conduct disorder (CD), whereas girls showed a higher prevalence in terms of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD)
Participants aged ≤11 years showed the highest prevalence in ADHD, CD, and ODD
Summary
Though several epidemiological surveys of psychiatric disorders have been carried out in China, only a few of them are concerned about the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in central Hunan and reveal the distribution of common psychiatric disorders and their comorbidities. Studies focusing on mental disorders of children and adolescents have increased in recent decades [1]. The prevalence of mental health disorders among children and youth varies greatly in different parts of the world, ranging from 3.5 to 40.3% [7, 8]. This wide variation indicates great heterogeneity, which might result in a disparity of study goals, selection of study population, and criteria used to confirm the diagnoses of disorders [9]. Research on the prevalence of mental health disorders in children and youth across China is sorely lacking. Of the few epidemiological studies, they were all conducted in Hunan, Liaoning, and
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