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Daniel G. Whitney
About 7.7 million American children suffer from depression, anxiety or ADHD, according to a study published in JAMA Pediatrics. However, almost half of these children receive no treatment or advice for their illness.
"Mental health disorders not only affect the simultaneous health of children, but are also likely to follow adulthood and may hinder the healthy transition and aging to adulthood," Daniel G. Whitney, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Michigan, Infectious diseases at Children. "Gaps in obtaining treatment for treatable and / or modifiable conditions during childhood could exacerbate these disparities in health and other disparities later in life."
Whitney and her colleagues badyzed data from the 2016 National Child Health Survey, in which parents answered questions about the health of their children aged 0-17. Specifically, parents were asked if a health care provider had previously told them that their child had a mental health disorder. If the parents had been informed, the survey asked them if their child was still infected.
Whitney and her colleagues indicated that they define mental health disorders by answering "yes" to the second question about depression, anxiety or ADHD. The survey also prompted parents to indicate whether their child had benefited from treatment or advice from a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric nurse or nurse. 39, a clinical social worker.
Of the 46.6 million children included in the study, 16.5% had at least one mental health disorder. The prevalence of these disorders ranged from 7.6% in Hawaii to 27.2% in Maine.
The researchers found that 49.4% of the children received no treatment for their mental disorders. Washington, D.C., had the lowest prevalence of untreated children (29.5%), while North Carolina had the highest (72.2%).
Whitney said that while it is still possible to improve the specialized care of children's and adolescents' mental health, some factors are not a pediatrician's responsibility.
"For example, stigma badociated with mental disorders and seeking treatment, environmental barriers such as accessibility and affordability, genetic and / or behavioral predispositions and parenting factors can all play out an interactive role in the development of mental disorders and the search for treatment, "he said. I said. "For pediatricians, recognizing the importance of mental health for general health can help improve their own practice. Based on these findings, some recommendations could include integrating screening, referral and monitoring of mental disorders in their child and adolescent patients. "- by Katherine Bortz
Disclosures: The authors do not report any relevant financial information.
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