Psychiatric Disorders in Iranian Children and Adolescents

The aim of the present study was to investigate the epidemiology of psychiatric disorders in ýchildren and adolescents in five provinces of Iran: Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz and Mashhad.ý
In the present study, we selected 9,636 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years through ýmultistage cluster random sampling method from Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Tabriz and Mashhad. ýWe instructed the clinical psychologists to complete the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ýý(SDQ) for the participants, and those who received a high score on SDQ, completed the Persian ýversion of Kiddie-SADS-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). We used descriptive ýanalysis and 95% confidence interval to investigate the relationship between scores of the K-ýSADS questionnaire and demographic factorsþ. þWe used one-way ANOVA to test the significant ýdifferences among the disorders according to sex, age and province of residence.ýý
Based on the results, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) (4.45%) had the highest prevalence of psychiatric ýdisorders in the five provinces and substance abuse and alcohol abuse (0%) had the lowest ýprevalence. In addition, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had the most ýprevalence in boys (5.03%) and ODD had the most prevalence in ýgirls (4.05%). Among the three age groups, 6 to 9 year olds had the highest rates of ADHD ýý(5.69%); 10 to 14 and 15 to 18 year olds had the highest rates of ODD (4.32% and 4.37% ýrespectively). Among the five provinces, Tehran and Mashhad allocated the highest rates of ODD; Isfahan and Shiraz had the highest rates of ADHD; and Tabriz had the highest rates of social phobia.ý
The current study revealed that the overall frequency of psychiatric disorders based on Kiddie-ýSADS-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) was higher than a similar study. Moreover, in ýthis study, among the five provinces, Tehran and Mashhad allocated the highest rates of ODD; Isfahan and Shiraz had the highest rates of ADHD; and Tabriz had the highest rates of social phobia. Therefore, these percentage ýof psychiatric disorders in Iran lead us toward a greater use of consultation and mental health ýservicesþ.þ