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Prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses in children with mental retardation: data from a population‐based study
Author(s) -
Strømme Petter,
Diseth Trond H
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
developmental medicine and child neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.658
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1469-8749
pISSN - 0012-1622
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2000.tb00083.x
Subject(s) - medical diagnosis , psychiatry , population , medicine , hyperkinesia , psychiatric diagnosis , psychiatric interview , pediatrics , intelligence quotient , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , anxiety , cognition , environmental health , pathology
The main purpose of the study was to estimate the prevalence of psychiatric diagnoses in children with mental retardation (MR) (IQ≤70). All children born between 1980 and 1985 ( N =30037) in Akershus County, Norway, were screened for possible MR and assessed with either IQ tests or standardized developmental tests. A total of 178 children, 79 with severe mental retardation (SMR) (IQ<50) and 99 with mild mental retardation (MMR) (IQ 50 to 70) were included for further study. Psychiatric symptomatology was assessed as a standard part of the neurodevelopmental examination, which included a semistructured parent interview, a clinical child interview, and retrieval of the charts of previous child psychiatric examinations. Psychiatric diagnoses were classified according to the International Classification of Disease (ICD‐10). In total, 65 (37%) of the total population with MR (95% confidence intervals 29 to 44) were registered to have psychiatric diagnoses, the most common being hyperkinesia ( n =28) and pervasive developmental disorder ( n =15). Psychiatric diagnoses were present in 42% of the population with SMR and 33% of the population with MMR ( p =0.4). Of all children found to have a psychiatric diagnosis, approximately one‐third had previously been examined by a child psychiatrist and indicated a previously unrecognized need for these services to children with MR.