Psychiatric co-morbidity among adolescent patients attending children's clinics at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka Zambia

Abstract

Background Adolescence is a transitional period from childhood to adulthood marked by physical, physiological and psychological development to maturation but is characterized by the onset of mental disorders that persist into adulthood. In western countries many studies have been conducted that show prevalence rates, risk factors and co-morbidities of mental disorders in adolescents. In Zambia, very little research has been conducted on adolescent mental health. Objective: To establish the prevalence of co-morbid Psychiatric disorders among adolescent patients attending clinics for chronic diseases at the university teaching hospital. Design: This was a descriptive Cross sectional study. Study population: Adolescent patients with chronic physical diseases on outpatient follow up at UTH. Sampling: Random sampling Method and setting: Clinical based structured interview using the MINI KID international for diagnosis of both DSM-IV TR and ICD 10 psychiatric disorders in adolescents administered by the researcher. SocioDemographic data for the study group was collected using a researcher designed questionnaire. Results: Out of a sample of 245 respondents interviewed, 56% were female and 43.8% male with mean age of 14 years. The prevalence of mental disorders was 18.8% i.e. Major Depression 5%, Dysthymia 5%, Suicide 3%, specific phobia 6% and other disorders frequency <1%. There was significant -co-morbidity among mental disorders [X2 (4) = 41.7548, P = 0.000] and statistically significant co-morbidity between chronic physical and mental disorders [X2 (11) = 20.9673, P = 0.045]. Conclusion: In this study, Mood disorders were 'more prevalent than other mental disorders: There was significant co-morbidity of the mental disorders and significant comorbidity was demonstrated between chronic physical disorders and mental disorders. Data analysis: SPSS version 16 for both descriptive and inferential analysis of the data. P value significant <0.05, insignificant> 0.05