Pattern of Child and Adolescent Mental Disorders at a Tertiary Care Centre in North India

Background: The trend of service utilization at the tertiary care hospitals is changing with more and more children and adolescents visiting psychiatric facilities than before. There is a need to study this change in pattern of mental disorders being attended at the Child Guidance Clinic (CGC), to facilitate better services for these patients. Aim: To examine the pattern of mental disorders among children and adolescents attending CGC between 2008 and 2017 at PGIMS, Rohtak and their socio-demographic characteristics. Settings and Design: Retrospective study at a tertiary care centre   Methods: Three thousand and twenty-eight patients (up to 16 years of age) attended the CGC of PGIMS, Rohtak over the period from 2008 to 2017. Socio-demographic and clinical data was collected retrospectively from the Patient’s Annual Records Register of the CGC services. This data was analysed using Microsoft excel. Descriptive statistics used for the statistical analysis. Results: There was a gradual increase in the number of children attending the CGC facility from the year 2008 to year 2017. Majority of them were in the age group 10-15 years, accompanied by their mother, and hailed from rural areas. The most common diagnosis was intellectual disability (21.16%), followed by ADHD (17.86%), while diagnoses of ODD was (2.93%) and conduct disorder (2.3%). Conclusions: This trajectory and projection suggests that the psychiatric service utilization by the younger population is likely to increase over the years, and requires policy review for strengthening health care system.