Mental Disorder in Children Attending a Child Psychiatric Clinic at the General Paediatric Hospital in Baghdad

Abstract

Very little is known about child and adolescent mental health needs in Iraq, although a small number of published findings are available using standardised instruments. The aim of this paper is to report the mental disorders in children and adolescents who attended the child psychiatric clinic at a large general hospital for paediatrics in Baghdad in 2005, the early period of U.S. Occupation. Clinical presentations were examined to determine variation in symptoms and severity of illness among 149 children and adolescents during the period of the study. A variety of psychiatric disorders were assessed; emotional disorders were the most frequent. Anxiety states were 22.1%, conduct disorders including hyperkinetic disorders 14.8%. Common developmental problems were stuttering (stammering) (14.1%), followed by non-organic enuresis (13.4%). Epilepsy was found in 10% of the referred children. This is a descriptive study in an area under severe psycho-social stress. The analysis shows strong association with studies undertaken in areas of different levels of civil organisation.

Keywords:

• child
• adolescent
• Iraq
• mental health
• war