Most children and adolescents in England presenting to their GPs with psychiatric symptoms have low or declining rates of ongoing contact, according to a study led by University of Manchester researchers.
The findings, published in Lancet Psychiatry and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Wellcome , could indicate that most children are in a low risk group and won’t require long-term support, providing reassurance for children and their parents and caregivers.
However, the figures might also reflect an unmet need for some children and adolescents.
The study tracked the outcomes of around 370,000 3-18 year olds over 5 years` using anonymised primary care health records from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum database.
All of the included children had symptoms of a possible psychiatric condition, such as depression, anxiety, Autism or ADHD. The research tracked the children’s contact with healthcare services to find out what happened over the ensuing 5 years.
Almost 208,000 (51%) of the children and adolescents who presented with psychological symptoms to general practitioners had few subsequent healthcare contacts over the next 5 years and were very unlikely to be prescribed medications, or referred to specialist services for their mental health.
The largest of seven groups identified by the researchers, these children and adolescents also had the lowest risk of future hospitalisation for either self-harm or suicide and were more likely to be younger, male, and from non-White ethnicities.
The next largest group (13% of the overall sample) had some ongoing contacts with the GP but didn’t receive medications. The other groups identified had either declining rates of contact over 5 years, or prolonged high levels of contact with GPs or specialists, or escalating rates of contact. Each of these groups made up less than 10% of the overall sample.
Children and adolescents from Black, South Asian, and other non-White ethnicities had lower rates of ongoing GP contact and there were similar, less pronounced differences for mixed-ethnicity children and adolescents.
The findings are published as increasing numbers of children are seeking help for mental health symptoms, as well as ADHD and autism. The results provide some insight into what happens next for these children and suggests that for most of the young people, the problems they experience will be transient, or that they may receive the support they need outside of medical settings.
