Introduction: The prevalence of depression in Polish children and adolescents under 18 years of age treated for mental disorders has increased in the last few years in Poland. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of major depression in a population of Polish children and adolescents under 18 years of age treated for mental disorders, stratified by sex and place of residence, in the years 2005, 2009, 2014, and 2016.
Material and methods: We analysed the psychiatric treatment data of children and adolescents under the age of 18 years in Poland compiled by the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw for these years.
Results: Major depression was moderately prevalent among children and adolescents treated in all evaluated types of mental health facilities, with a prevalence in this population ranging from 0.8% in 2005 to 4.3% in 2016. The rates of young patients with mood disorders increased from 3.1% in 2005 to 7.0% in 2016. Risk factors for developing major depression in our research group were: being female and living in an urban area.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest the need to increase the service capacity for children and adolescents as well as to intensify preventive measures to improve the mental health status of this age group.
Keywords: children and adolescents; depression; psychiatric epidemiology.
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