Prevalence of mental disorders in children living in Alberta, Canada, as determined from physician billing data.
TLDR
Administrative data can be used to estimate the prevalence of mental disorders in a pediatric population, and the estimates made are lower than those obtained by using surveys of similar populations, perhaps indicating the difference between treated and untreated prevalence.Abstract:
Background The prevalence of mental disorders is often assessed using survey techniques. Although providing good estimates of prevalence, these techniques are time-consuming and expensive. Objective To estimate the prevalence of mental disorders among children aged 0 to 17 years living in Alberta, Canada, using health care administrative data. Design This was a cross-sectional study. International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification chapter 5 diagnostic codes from physician billing data were used. Codes were grouped into 10 categories. Prevalence rates for each category were calculated, stratified by age, sex, and premium subsidy status (a proxy for socioeconomic status). The age pattern, times of greatest risk, and the effect of sex on type and prevalence of mental disorder were estimated. Setting All fee-for-service health care venues in Alberta between April 1, 1995, and March 31, 1996, providing services to children registered with the Alberta Health Care Insurance Commission on March 31, 1996. Results Prevalence of mental disorders varied by disorder category, age, sex, and premium subsidy status. For boys, maximum prevalence of 9.5% occurred at age 10 years; for girls, maximum prevalence of 12.0% occurred at age 17 years. Mental disorders were most common in young boys and adolescent girls and among children receiving welfare. Distinct patterns of disorder were evident and comorbidity was common. Conclusions Administrative data can be used to estimate the prevalence of mental disorders in a pediatric population. The estimates made are lower than those obtained by using surveys of similar populations, perhaps indicating the difference between treated and untreated prevalence. Strengths of this study are that the estimates reflect the entire population, are more easily and obtained at less cost, and are useful for the planning of mental health services.read more
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References
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DSM-III disorders in preadolescent children. Prevalence in a large sample from the general population.
TL;DR: The most prevalent disorders were attention deficit, oppositional, and separation anxiety disorders, and the least prevalent were depression and social phobia.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Great Smoky Mountains Study of Youth. Goals, design, methods, and the prevalence of DSM-III-R disorders.
Elizabeth J. Costello,Adrian Angold,Barbara J. Burns,Dalene Stangl,Dan L. Tweed,Alaattin Erkanli,Carol M. Worthman +6 more
TL;DR: Poverty was the strongest demographic correlate of diagnosis, in both urban and rural children, in this rural sample of children.
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Ontario Child Health Study: II. Six-Month Prevalence of Disorder and Rates of Service Utilization
David R. Offord,Michael H. Boyle,Peter Szatmari,Naomi I. Rae-Grant,Paul S. Links,David Cadman,John A. Byles,John W. Crawford,Heather Munroe Blum,Carolyn Byrne,Helen Thomas,Christel A. Woodward +11 more
TL;DR: The utilization data indicated that children with these psychiatric disorders, compared with children without these disorders, were almost four times more likely to have received mental health or social services in the six months preceding this study.
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An Epidemiological Study of Disorders in Late Childhood and Adolescence—I. Age‐ and Gender‐Specific Prevalence
Patricia Cohen,Jacob Cohen,Stephanie Kasen,Carmen Noemi Velez,Claudia Hartmark,James A. Johnson,Mary Rojas,Judith S. Brook,E. L. Streuning +8 more
TL;DR: Age-specific prevalences are provided for nine disorders in a general population sample of ages 10-20 and the pattern of specific diagnoses varied greatly by both age and gender.