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Objectives: In the very young children period (0-3), mental health studies have been growing in the past decade. Many publications in the literature of this period focused on neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, mental retardation. However, in this period, emotional and behavioral problems that significantly disrupt the harmony of family and child have been reported. It is estimated that 10–15% of the very young children have social–emotional or behavioral problems. Nevertheless, less than 8% of these children are admitted to mental health centers. In this study, we aimed to investigate our knowledge of the socio-demographic characteristics, presenting complaint and diagnostic evaluation of patients who admitted to 0-3 year clinic of ours outpatient department.
Method: Files of patients, who admitted to 0-3 outpatient clinic were evaluated, retrospectively.
Results: It has been found that 320 people admitted to our clinic to get help, 190 of these patients have attended their clinical evaluation. The mean age of the children was identified as 26 months, while the average maternal age was 26, and the average paternal age was found to be 35. In the group, we reached the detailed information, distribution of educational status of mothers has been observed as; 35% of primary school, 31% high school, 17% of middle school and 13% university graduates. Distribution of educational status of fathers has been observed as 34% of primary school, 30% of high school, 20% of university and 13% of mid-school. The most common complaints observed was the speech delay. In addition, inappropriate eye contact, no reaction to his/her name and emotional-behavioral problems were other complaints.
Conclusions: When closely examined, the patient profile of our 0-3-year outpatient clinic, neurodevelopmental problems were observed to be the most common complaints. Striking findings were observed that the family, who has the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental regulatory problems, did not attend the follow-ups whereas the others, who have behavioral problems and get drug treatment, continued their examination.