Internalizing disorders in child psychiatric patients across time: diagnoses and causes for referral

Nordic Journal of Psychiatry
Merete Juul SørensenPer Hove Thomsen

Abstract

With regard to internalizing disorders we wanted to describe: 1) a possible change in diagnoses over time; 2) a possible corresponding change in causes for referral; 3) correspondence of hospital diagnosis with causes for referral. For 70 randomly selected records/year (n=560), referral papers were examined and compared with register-data on all 8-13-year-old children examined in the study period (1995-2002). The hospital-based frequency increased for depressive disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and decreased for anxiety disorders. A corresponding increase occurred for depressive and OCD symptoms as cause for referral. Agreement between referral causes and subsequent clinical diagnoses was modest. In most cases (68%) referred for internalizing symptoms, a clinical diagnosis within the internalizing spectrum was given. The increase in the diagnoses of depressive disorder and OCD seems partly due to an increase in patients referred for these disorders. Referrers identify internalizing disorders reliably but child psychiatric examination leads to more precise diagnoses.

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Citations

Feb 17, 2007·Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica·Per Hove Thomsen
Jan 31, 2021·Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health·Anna Sofie HansenMarlene Briciet Lauritsen
Feb 16, 2021·Nordic Journal of Psychiatry·Anna Sofie HansenMarlene Briciet Lauritsen

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