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Data about psychiatric problems among young people are scarce in the Gulf countries. This retrospective review of records describes the pattern of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders among patients consulting 3 child psychiatric clinics in Saudi Arabia during the year 2008. Most patients were referred from the public health sector (92.8%). Psychotropic drugs were prescribed for 86.2% of patients and psychotherapy for 55.2%. Maternal perinatal complications and other psychosocial stressors were noted in almost 45.8% of cases. Family history of psychiatric disorder was reported in 31.5% of patients. Psychiatric comorbidity was noted in 40.5% of cases while physical diseases were noted in 29.9%. The outcome was classified as unstable at the last consultation in 17.9% of cases. In a linear regression analysis the only factors significantly associated with unstable outcome were a higher load of symptoms (OR 2.64) and perinatal complications (OR 2.84).

Keywords

featured, prevalence, psychiatry, retrospective, riyadh, study

Citation

Al-Habeeb, A.A., Qureshi, N.A., & Al-Maliki, T.A. (2012). Pattern of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders among patients consulting publicly-funded child psychiatric clinics in Saudi Arabia. EMHJ, 18(2), 112-119.