Mental health care needs and access to specialized services in children with mental disorders.

Introduction: The prevalence of mental disorders (MD) and contribution to the global burden of disease (GBD) is greater in children (1), but they are the population with less access to mental health services (MHS) (2). Objectives: To explore the characteristics of help-seeking and access to specialized MHS in children with MD in Mexico. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Children's Psychiatric Hospital (HPI), through the survey method. The project was approved by the HPI Ethics Committee. Descriptive statistics for the characteristics of the sample applying measures of central tendency, Inferential statistics with t-test for differences in means between groups (girls and boys, diagnosis), and variables associated with the help-seeking to MHS. Finally, a classification method was applied through a decision tree to observe the natural behavior in the access to MHS. Results: 456 participants. 22% female with an average age of 9.8 years (SD ± 2.65), 72% had a diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorder (HD) and 28% depressive disorder (DD). Medical comorbidity was higher in girls than boys (26% vs 7%, X2 = 62, p = .000). The average age to seek MHS with DD was 6.97 (SD ±2.1) vs 5.98 (SD± 2.3) in HD, (T = 3.08, p = 0.003). The mother was the first person to notice symptoms. 43% of children received mental health-care prior to HPI. 58% had a family with MD. (Figue 1). Conclusions: The seek for MHS differs by sex, diagnosis and family, it is necessary to design mental health interventions with an emphasis on gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]