MENTAL-DISORDERS IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH SICKLE-CELL DISEASE

This study compares the rate of mental disorders in children and adole scents with sickle cell disease with the rate in a corresponding contr ol population. Using the clinical interview a diagnosis based on DSM-I II-R criteria for the presence of 13 mental disorders common to childh ood was considered in a sequential sample of 39 subjects with sickle c ell disease and a convenience sample of 26 same-race control subjects. Thirty-one percent of the sickle cell group and 42% of the control gr oup screened positive for one or more of the selected mental disorders . The difference was not significant. When subgroups of mental disorde rs were considered (anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, disruptiv e behavior disorders, psychotic disorders, and other selected disorder s), the differences were still not significant. This study suggests th at children and adolescents with sickle cell disease do not have a gre ater risk for clinically significant mental disorders than same-race o utpatient clinic controls. This study supports other reports in the me dical literature that suggest that children attending outpatient medic al clinics are at a higher risk for mental disorder than is seen in ep idemiologic studies of nonmedical populations.