Swedish child and adolescent psychiatric out-patients--a five-year cohort

Publications of Swedish child and adolescent psychiatric out-patients have been scarce. This study is aimed to give a picture of conditions in a child and adolescent psychiatric out-patient setting by reporting five-year data from a five-year cohort of first-time visits. All first-visits, 0-18 years of age, where screened retrospectively for background factors, symptoms, diagnoses and types of treatment. Six hundred and ten patients were registered during the period. The estimated accumulated prevalence for 19-year-olds were 19,7 %. Nearly half of them were seen 1-3 times. A small group, 2,5 %, accounted for about 20 % of all consultations. No or mild psychosocial stress was registered in 37 % of the cases. A neuropsychiatric main diagnosis was found for 27 % (2,1:1, boys:girls) and depression and anxiety for 20 % [0, 5:1] of the index-cases. These findings show that 5,6 % of children applied for child and adolescent psychiatric help during a five-year period. Almost one third had a neuropsychiatric disorder. The results indicate that ADHD is one of the most common causes both among boys and girls to seek help in a child and adolescent out-patient clinic.