Patients at a paediatric out-patient clinic. A study with particular reference to psychological and social background...

A large proportion of the children who attend paediatric clinics present with indefinite somatic symptoms or complaints which are clearly or possibly of a psychological nature. At the same time it is known that patients with serious psychological problems tend to seek help far too late. This study is an attempt to find out whether the patients who are liable to become problem cases in the long term can be identified by the paediatrician at an early stage and, if so, in what ways these patients differ from others in a paediatric clientele. All the patients who attended the Paediatric Out-Patient Clinic at Umeå Hospital during the course of one year were assessed by the physicians there. It was judged that psychological factors of importance were involved in 5.2%, that the importance was doubtful in 8.3% and that no psychological factors were involved in 86.5%. The proportion of cases involving psychological factors of importance increased with age and amounted to 17% amoung the 10 to 15-year-olds.