Mental Health and Cognitive Dysfunction: A Multicenter Study at Pediatric Rehabilitation Clinics in North Norway

Patients referred to pediatric rehabilitation services have often cognitive deficits/intellectual disabilities.Neurocognitive assessment is, hence, important when designing treatment plans.

Children and adolescents with cognitive deficits and intellectual disabilities (ID) have a high risk of developing mental health problems. There is lack of knowledge about such comorbid mental disorders in the health service. There are also few validated instruments for assessing mental disorders among children and adolescents with cognitive deficits and ID both in Norway and abroad.

The main aims of the current multicentre study are to:

Investigate psychometric properties of different psychiatric instruments for children and adolescents. Investigate change and stability of symptoms over time. Investigate user satisfaction. The study will include Pediatric Rehabilitation Services at hospitals in Tromsø, Hammerfest and Bodø and will include in total 320 patients aged 4 to 18. We will use information from parents, teachers and patients, in addition to clinician-rated measures. Patients will be assessed at intake and after six months. We have conducted a pilot study in the period from 2012 to 2013.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mental Disorders
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: mental disorders; Behavioral: screening for mental disorders

Detailed Description

1. Investigate psychometric properties of a structured psychiatric interview

   (DAWBA) and a symptom measure (SDQ) in clinical samples of children and

   adolescents with cognitive deficits and intellectual disabilities. We will

   investigate the instruments' reliability and convergent validity with the

   Aberrant Behavior checklist (ABC), the DBC and the Social Responsiveness

   Scale (SRS), in addition to the clinician-rated severity of children's mental

   health problems measured with the CGAS and HoNOSCA.

2. The psychiatric instruments will be administrated at intake and after six

   months. We will investigate prevalence rates and indicators of disorder

   severity (comorbidity and persistence), including risk factors (socioeconomic

   status, parenting styles).

3. Investigate user satisfaction with the health service, i.e., the Pediatric

Rehabilitation Services.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 365

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Norway
  • Hammerfest, Norway, 9600
    • Finnmarkssykehuset (The Finnmark Hospital Trust)
  • Tromsø, Norway, N-9019
    • University Hospital of North Norway

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 4 years to 18 years (ADULT, CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients referred to pediatric rehabilitation outpatient clinic

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age from 4 years to 18 years
2. Written informed consent to participate
3. Fluent in Norwegian

4. Normal or corrected to normal vision and hearing

   -

   Exclusion Criteria:

   -

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
screening for mental disorders	Other: mental disorders; mental disorders; Behavioral: screening for mental disorders; screening for mental disorders

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence of mental disorders	The Development and Well Being Assessment (DAWBA) is a package of interviews, questionnaires and rating techniques designed to generate psychiatric diagnoses on 5-17 year old according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-IV).	Within the first or second day the patient is undergoing an assessment at the hospital

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence of mental disorders	The Development and Well Being Assessment short-version is re-administered 6 months after taking part in the study (i.e., the basic outcome measure)	within 6 months after the initial assessment

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Prevalence of maladaptive behavior	Aberrant Behavior Checklist	Within the first or second day the patient is undergoing an assessment at the hospital
Current mental health status	Health of the Nation Outcome Scales for Children and Adolescents	Within the first or second day the patient is undergoing an assessment at the hospital
General functioning of children	Children's Global Assessment	Within the first or second day the patient is undergoing an assessment at the hospital
Prevalence of social impairment	Social Responsiveness Scale	Within the first or second day the patient is undergoing an assessment at the hospital

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University Hospital of North Norway
• Collaborators: University of Tromso
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Marianne Halvorsen, PhD, University Hospital of North Norway

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): October 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): June 1, 2016
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): June 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 10, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 10, 2013
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): January 14, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): July 14, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 11, 2017
• Last Verified: July 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurocognitive Disorders; Cognition Disorders; Mental Disorders; Cognitive Dysfunction
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2012/1009 (Rek)