Abstract:
Objectives: More attention is now paid on the importance of emotional and mental well-being
of the youth. To better plan for psychiatric health care and rehabilitation in this age group, we
need to shed light on the epidemiological picture of their mental disorders. The present study
aimed to evaluate the demographic and clinical characteristics of the referrals to a child and
adolescent psychiatric ward during 5 years.
Methods: In this prospective observational study, all the youth, who had been admitted to
the Roozbeh Hospital for the first time, were recruited. All of the participants were evaluated,
using the Roozbeh Hospital Item Sheet as a standard tool for obtaining their demographic
and clinical features. The level of global functioning was also assessed, utilizing the Children
Global Assessment Scale.
Results: Over 55% of the inpatients (n=192) were male with a Mean±SD age of 15.2±2.36years.
The average length of admission was 40 days. The most common diagnoses were (in descending
sequences): 1. bipolar mood disorder; 2. attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; and 3. autism
spectrum disorder. The global functioning mean score of the participants was between 29 and
59 out of 100 through the worst and the best situations of the psychiatric condition.
Discussion: The study findings highlight the predominance of mood disorders and their
complications among this group of inpatients as well as their required and special assessments
and interventions. Future annual reports can help with better understanding the trends in
mental health issues that potentially aids in policymaking and developing treatment guidelines.
Machine summary:
Research Paper: A Five-Year Report on Clinical and Demographic Characteristics of Children and Adolescents Admitted to a Major Psychiatric Hospital Rosa Alikhani1 /, Mehdi Tehrani-Doost2,3 /, Zahra Shahrivar2,3* / 1.
A Five-Year Report on Clinical and Demographic Characteristics of Children and Adolescents Admitted to a Major Psychiatric Hospital.
The present study aimed to evaluate the demographic and clinical characteristics of the referrals to a child and adolescent psychiatric ward during 5 years.
ir 253 September 2019, Volume 17, Number 3 / ranian /ehabilitation /ournal Highlights ● Over 80% of the patients admitted to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Ward in a 5-year study were diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Plain Language Summary This 5-year study provides information about common psychiatric disorders in Iranian children and adolescents.
Another American study in eight psychiatric hospitals reported that mood disorders were more common than other disorders among children and adolescents (38%) [6].
Despite the existing evidence, no long-term studies on inpatient admissions of Iranian children and adolescents have been carried out so far to present a clinical and de-mographic picture of the current status of psychiatric disorders among them.
4. Discussion We aimed at registering the clinical and demographic characteristics of children and adolescents admitted to a major referral center in a 5-year period to establish a data registry and to update experts in the field of the trend of psychiatric disorders.
5. Conclusions Bipolar mood disorder was the most common diagno-sis in this 5-year study performed at a referral child and adolescent center.