SYMPTOM PROFILE AND CO-MORBID PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS IN MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS

A retrospective study of 52 children and adolescent subjects suffering from mentalretardation who attended in the Child Guidance Clinic in the Department of PsychiatryOPD, Teaching Hospital, Katmandu, Nepal. They were brought to the OPD withvarious symptoms. It was found that the number of male patients were 35 comparedto 17 female with male female ratio of 2:1. The mean age of male patients was 9.19 +3.55 years where as the mean age of female patients was 9.91 + 9.99 years. GeneralPractitioner and Pediatrician referred majority of them. The commonest symptomwith which the patients presented to the hospital was aggressive behavior (28%) while14 patients (26.9%) presented with speech related problems. Of the 52 patients whopresented in Child Guidance Clinic, 11 patients had comorbid psychiatric problems.It was found that 4 patients had hyperkinetic disorders, 3 patients had disorders ofpsychological development, 1 patient each had post encephalitic sequel, depressivedisorder, somatization disorder and eating disorder.1. Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Medicine.2. Mental Hospital, Lagankhel.3. Clinical Psychologist, Kathmandu Medical College.Address for correspondence : Dr. Saroj Prasad Ojha, MD (Psychiatry),Department of Psychiatry, Institute of MedicineMaharajgunj, Kathmandu, Nepal.Key words: Mental retardation, Psychiatric disorder, Child Guidance Clinic