The pattern of child psychiatric disorders as seen at Kenyatta National Hospital

Abstract

The study was undertaken to determine the pattern of psychiatric disorders in children attending the Kenyatta National Hospital Child Psychiatric Clinic. A total of seventy-one children were seen over a seven months period. The diagnosis of each child was presented according to the multi - axial classification of Child psychiatric disorders in relation to the Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (I C D - 9), section five. The results revealed a female to male ratio of 1:1.15, an age range of four years to fifteen years and a duration of symptoms of less than one year among 58% of the children seen. The commonest symptom was fainting attacks. The most frequent clinical psychiatric syndromes were neurotic disorders and conduct disorders which accounted for 47% and 21% of all the diagnoses respectively. 18% of the children had evidence of a developmental disorder while 30% were mentally retarded. 32% of the children had an associated medical condition the most frequent of which was epilepsy. Abnormal psychosocial factors were present in 70% of the children.