East Afr Med J. 2001 Jun;78(6):308-11.

Prevalence of mental and behavioural

disorders in Ethiopian children.
Ashenafi Y, Kebede D, Desta M, Alem A.

Department of Community Health, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the magnitude of specific mental and behavioural

disorders in children in Butajira, southern Ethiopia. DESIGN: A cross-sectional
survey. SETTING: Butajira district, southern Ethiopia. SUBJECTS: Amharic version
of the diagnostic instrument for children and adolescents was used to interview
parents of 1,477 children. RESULTS: Of the surveyed children 3.5% had at least one
or more mental or behavioural disorders. The most frequent diagnoses were anxiety
disorders (1.6%), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (1.5%) and disruptive
behaviour disorders (1.5%). Mood disorders (1%) and elimination disorders (0.8%)
were relatively less common. CONCLUSION: The study shows that specific mental
and behavioural disorders in these children are significant public health problems.