Background: Depression is very common amongst adolescents and is the fourth leading
cause of illness and disability among adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. Majority
of the studies on depression among adolescents were carried out in the western
world, with very few in developing countries like Nigeria. The aim of this
study therefore was to determine the prevalence and pattern of depressive
illness among school age children 10 - 19 years seen at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out in the Child and Adolescent
Clinic of the Neuropsychiatry Department of the University of Port Harcourt
Teaching Hospital (UPTH). The case notes of
all school age children aged between 10 to 19 years who were treated for
depression from 2010 to 2019 were retrieved and reviewed. Information sought
included sociodemographic, year of presentation and diagnosis. Data was fed in
to excel spread sheet and analyzed using SPSS version software. Results:？The Clinic had attended to a total 1096 children with
various childhood mental illnesses within the period under review. Out of
238 patients (21.7%) aged 10 to 19 years treated for depression within the
period under review, 129 (54.20%) were males and 109 (45.80%) were females with
male to female ratio of 1.18:1. The 15 - 19 years age group had a higher
prevalence of depression 195 (81.93%) compared to 109 (45.80%) of those aged
between 10 to 14 years. One hundred and thirty-six (57.14%) patients had severe
depression, out of which 87 (63.97%) had non-psychotic depression, while 49
(36.03%) had psychotic depression. Increasing age (p = 0.001) and living in the urban area (p = 0.001) were significantly associated with having severe
depression. Conclusion: Depression is common in our environment.
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