The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2009 , Vol 51 , Num 5
Psychopathology and its Effect on Treatment Compliance in Pediatric Obesity Patients
Departments of 1Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2Pediatric Endocrinology, 3Psychiatry, and 4Nutrition and Dietetics,
Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
Obesity is a common health problem in children and adolescents and has
life-threatening physical complications as well as psychological consequences,
including negative self-image, low self-esteem and social difficulties. Psychiatric
disorders, especially depression and anxiety disorders, are present at higher
rates in obese patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence
and type of psychopathology in a group of obese children and to determine
the effect of comorbid psychiatric disorders on treatment compliance. Fiftyfour
obese patients were evaluated by clinical interviews as well as Schedule
for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Present
and Lifetime Version (KIDI-SADS-PL) for psychiatric diagnosis. Fifty percent
of the sample was found to have psychopathology and treatment compliance
was found to be poor in the group with comorbid psychiatric disorders. This
shows that child and adolescent psychiatrists should be included as team
members while treating pediatric obese patients.
Keywords :
obesity, psychopathology, children, adolescents, treatment compliance.