The Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Children and Adolescents in Rasht City

Abstract Introduction: psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents are very important.To understand more of etiology, diagnosis and treatment as well as prevention, the first step is epidemiological studies. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years in Rasht city and suburbs and the relation between the presence of a mental disorder and demographic characteristics of the children and the families. Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional analytical study conducted in Rasht city and suburbs.The statistical population includes 147653 children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years in Rasht and suburbs.We selected 1024 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years by multistage cluster random sampling method from urban and rural parts of Rasht. The clinical psychologists completed the Persian version of Kiddie-SADS-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). Data were analyzed by SPSS version 16 and were interpreted using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and odds ratios. Results: The overall prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years in Guilan province was 20/7% (95% confidence interval 18.33-23.29%). The most common disorder was any Anxiety disorder (14.1%). Based on the results,Separation anxiety disorder (6.6%), Generalized Anxiety (5/9%), Phobia (3/4%) and Agoraphobia (3/2%) were the most prevalent disorders in this population. Conclusion: The high prevalence of anxiety disorders demands further consideration and treatment plans on the part of corresponding authorities. Conflict of interest: non declared