Abstract

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to assess presenting complaints and psychiatric diagnoses in patients aged 0–5 years who presented to our Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic.
Method: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of children aged 0-5 years who presented to Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University School of Medicine’s Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic between the dates of January 1st, 2015 and January 1st, 2017. Data regarding age, gender, presenting complaint, medication, birth order, psychiatric diagnoses and comorbid diagnoses were assessed in all patients. The diagnoses were placed according to DSM-5 and clinical diagnoses such as stimulant deficiency, problem in setting borders, and psychosocial deprivation, which are not included in DSM-5, werealso included.
Results: Of 317 cases, 206 were boys and 111 were girls. Mean age was 38.32±10.46 months among boys while 35.04±10.45 months among girls. It was found that boys most commonly presented with speech retardation, hyperactivity. and irritability while girls most commonly presented with speech retardation, irritability, and crying. In our patients, most common diagnoses were stimulant deficiency, adjustment disorder, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental delay (DD), attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stuttering, psychosocial deprivation, problem in setting borders, articulation disorder, oppositional defiant/ conduct disorder, and separation anxiety. Mean age at diagnosis was 37.00±11.00 months in ASD, 44.72±10.46 months in ADHD and 35.44±10.75 months in DD. A psychotropic agent was prescribed to 20.8% of the patients. Risperidone was most commonly prescribed psychotropic agent; followed by hydroxyzine and other psychotropic drugs. The psychotropic agents were most commonly prescribed to the patients with ASD and ADHD as risperidone being most frequently preferred agent. The most common comorbid conditions included epilepsy, Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, and hypothyroidism. There was a psychiatric comorbidity in 6% of the cases as ASD and DD being most frequent diagnoses. Of the patients, 13.9% was first child in the family while 20.2% was the only child and 26.8% was last child in the family.
Conclusions: In our study, the findings that the most common presenting complaint was speech retardation among children aged 0–5 years who presented to child psychiatry outpatient clinic and higher proportion of boys in this age group were consistent with literature. Knowledge about possible diagnoses and presenting complaints in preschool children will contribute to improved care provided in child psychiatry clinics.

Key words: child, autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, speech retardation, preschool, psychiatric diagnoses