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Factitious disorder in children and adolescents: a retrospective study

Stefan Ehrlich¹, Ernst Pfeiffer, Harriet Salbach

¹Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow-Klinikum, Klinik für Psychiatrie, Psychosomatik, und Psychotherapie des Kindes und Jugendalters, Berlin, Germany. stefan.ehrlich@charite.de

|September 17, 2008

Abstract

Background:

Factitious disorder (FD) presumably manifests at an early age, but epidemiological and clinical data about pediatric FD are still lacking.

Objective:

The authors sought to study prevalence data of FD among referrals to a child-and-adolescent consultation-liaison service (CLS).

Method:

Authors conducted a retrospective survey of FD on 1,684 patients who were referred to the CLS from 1992 to 2003 (Sample I) and 12,081 patients who were treated in a tertiary-care child health center from 2003 to 2005 (Sample II).

Results:

In Sample I, FD occurred in 0.7% and, in Sample II, in 0.03% of the cases.

Conclusion:

The prevalence of pediatric FD among referrals to a CLS is similar to those found in studies of adults, and patients share many clinical characteristics.

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