Common mental disorders among adolescents with chronic diseases regularly attended in a specialized unit in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil

Abstract

Adolescents with chronic diseases are forced to cope with the changes that occur in adolescence by experiencing stressful situations. The main objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) among adolescents with chronic diseases and to explore associated factors. Data were obtained by applying the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to a sample of 207 patients treated at chronic disease outpatient clinics of a university hospital in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Sociodemographic data and information on the main chronic disease and associated diseases were also collected from the medical records of these patients. An overall prevalence of CMD of 44.9% was found in this population, which was higher among male (51.33%) than female (37.23%) adolescents, and this difference was statistically significant (p=0.05). Multivariate analysis stratified by sex and adjusted for the variables under study showed that the time of disease progression between six months and one year in boys revealed an odds ratio (OR) of 5.9 and in girls, of 1.82; the presence of associated non-chronic pathology showed, in boys, an OR of 4.13 and the origin of the disease in the circulatory system (according to the tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases [ICD-10]); in female adolescents, an OR of 2.1; when there was chronic disease associated with the underlying disease in girls, we found an OR of 1.47. However, these findings did not show statistical significance.