The Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Adolescents in Hormozgan Province of Iran

Objectives: The current cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescentsin the Hormozgan province in Iran.Methods: ۱۰۰۵ children and adolescents aged ۶ to ۱۸ yearswhowere living in Hormozgan province participated in this communitybasedstudy. Participants were selected using the stratified random cluster sampling and were instructed to fill the Persian versionof Kiddie-Sads-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). Demographic data were also collected (i.e., gender, age, education, parents’education, and socioeconomic status). Descriptive analysis and ۹۵% confidence interval were used to investigate the relationshipbetween the scores of the K-SADS-PL questionnaire and the demographic factors. Logistic regression was used to calculate the OR ofthe diagnosis with a psychiatric disorder according to sex, age, and socioeconomic status.Results: The overall prevalence in children and adolescents was ۱۶.۰۱%. No statistically significant difference was found concerninggender in regards to the frequency of psychiatric disorders. The most prevalent psychiatric disorders were separation anxiety disorder(۴.۲%), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (۲.۵%), and oppositional defiant disorder (۲.۵%), while anorexia nervosa (۰.۱%)had the lowest prevalence.Conclusions: The frequency of psychiatric disorders in adolescents inHormozganprovince is comparable to the reports from othercountries. The results of this study can be used to developmorespecific preventiveandtherapeutic measures, focusedonthe highestrisk subgroups.

Keywords:

Children , Adolescents , Mental Disorders , Prevalence , Epidemiology