Mona Nongmeikapam
Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal
Veda Shetageri
BGS MC, Nagrur, Bengaluru
Sudha Reddy VR
Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research Tamaka, Kolar, Karnataka
Pavana Srinivas
Akshaya Medical centre Bangalore and Consultant – HCG Cancer Hospital
Pages:324-332
Adolescence is a crucial transient stage in which a child matures into a fully grown-up
person. There are significant emotional disturbances in an adolescent, which may or
may not amount to a psychiatric diagnosis. To study the prevalence of emotional
disturbances amongst adolescents seeking paediatric care, either on an out-patient
basis or as in-patients, with reference to socio-demographic characteristics, family
background, physical and psychiatric morbidity. To study the symptom profile of
emotional disturbances in adolescent paediatric cases. It is a cross sectional
observational study. Sixty consecutive adolescents (defined 10-16 years for the purpose
of our study) attending the Paediatric Department were recruited for the study. All the
children were assessed in detail using standardised psychological instruments meant
for the study and information corroborated with a guardian. One or more psychiatric
diagnoses were present in 45% of children. Suicidality was the most commonly found
(11.7%) disorder while conduct disorders was present in 10%. Socio-demographic
variables significantly affected the outcome. There are considerable emotional
disturbances in the hospital population than in community samples. Paediatric liaison
psychiatry is a way to combat this burning issue and curb the emotional disturbances
at an early stage.