The assessment of the mental health status of school children in Umuahia, South-East Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: The global burden of Mental Health Disorders (MHD) in children has continued to remain high. Despite this, it is unfortunate that the assessment of the mental health status of children is persistently ignored, especially in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) such as Nigeria. It is also unfortunate that, knowledge of the burden of MHD among children in Umuahia, South-East Nigeria is deficient.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the mental health status of school children attending primary or secondary schools in Umuahia, South-East Nigeria, through the determination of the prevalence and types of MHD among the children.

Method: It was a school-based, cross-sectional and descriptive study of 384 apparently healthy school children aged 2-17 years attending primary or secondary schools in Umuahia, who served as subjects. Having met the inclusion criteria, a multi-stage random sampling method was used to enrol the subjects into the study. Ethical approval, informed consent and assent (for subjects older than 7 years) were obtained prior to the commencement of the study. The socio-demographic variables of the subjects were obtained and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) was used to assess their mental health status.

Results: The highest proportion of the subjects belonged to the age group 6-9 years. Males accounted for 206 (53.6%) while females accounted for 178 (46.4%) of the subjects, resulting in a male-to-female ratio of 1.16:1. Among the subjects, 45 which represents 11.7% had MHD, evidenced by abnormal scores on the SDQ. Among the subjects with MHD, peer relationship disorder, with a prevalence of 73.3%, was the most common type of MHD in the subjects. Other types of MHD, in a descending order of prevalence, were emotional (44.4%), conduct (22.2%), and hyperactivity/inattention (17.8%) disorders.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated a high prevalence of MHD among school children in Umuahia, with peer relationship disorders as the most common type.