Características sociodemográficas y trastornos mentales en niños y adolescentes de consulta externa psiquiátrica infantil de una clínica de Medellín

Introduction Mental disorders in the world affecting 15% to 30% in children and adolescents, altering its function and emotional, cognitive and social. Affect interpersonal relationships, school performance and increased substance use and the risk of suicide. Objective describe the social-demographic characteristics and mental disorders of children and adolescents of psychiatric consultation. Method Retrospective descriptive study that analyzed all the histories of children and adolescents of both sexes from 5 to 16 years who attended for the first time outpatient psychiatry university clinic of Medellin, from July 2010 to July 2012. Results We studied 197 patients, the average age was 11 ± 3.5 years, male sex was the most common 69%, 46.2% belonged to nuclear family. The most prevalent psychiatric disorders were 44.2% ADHD, depressive disorders 9.1% and 8.1% TOC. 61% had psychiatric comorbidity, the most frequent was oppositional defiant disorder with ADHD 35.6%. Conclusions The frequency of mental disorders and comorbidities found in this study were similar to those reported by other researchers.