Diagnosis Of Patients Referring To A Child And Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic

The aim of the present study is to identify the diagnoses of patients who referred to a child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinic. Medical records of 2109 patients referred to the Children and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic at Ordu States Hospital, between January 2012 and April 2013 were studied retrospectively. It was found that the patients were mostly male (59.6 %) and within 7 to 18 years of age (78.6%). It was also determined that 74.8% of patients had at least one diagnosis. The diagnosis rate of 44.8% in patients between the ages of 0-6, 84.6% of patients aged 7-11 were determined as 80.3% in patients aged 12-18. Of the cases, 9.7% were diagnosed with multiple conditions. They were mainly in the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) group. The most common diagnosis was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder followed by depression, anxiety disorders, enuresis and mental retardation, respectively. When the distribution of the diagnoses to sex were assessed, the most common diagnoses in boys are ADHD, enuresis, depression, generalized anxiety disorder and mental retardation respectively, they were ADHD, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, enuresis and mental retardation in girls. In our study, although the externalizing disorders are the most frequent diagnoses, there are differences between genders. The rate of comorbid diagnosis was found to be considerable. In the presence of comorbid diagnoses, the disorder is experienced more heavily and psychosocial functionality gets deteriorated. To know the most common diagnoses, diagnosis differences within genders and possible diagnoses for certain age groups will be useful for improving child and adolescent psychiatry services.