Demographic & clinical correlates of admission into a specialized psychiatric inpatient service for children and adolescents in Egypt: An observational retrospective study

Abstract

What is known on the subject:• Admitting children and adolescents in psychiatric inpatient units is a relatively new and still debatable practice in Egyptian society and in the entire Arab world. What the paper adds to existing knowledge:• Egyptian young people diagnosed with complex behavioural problems, such as in other parts of the world, desperately need and do get benefit from inpatient psychiatric service. The demographic and clinical characteristics of children in need for such service are not clearly different from those reported in other parts of the world. What are the implications for practice:• More should be done to spread awareness, remove obstacles, and develop more specialized inpatient units, with trained child psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses to provide best care for children and adolescents diagnosed with severe emotional and behavioural problems in Egypt, the Arab world and other developing countries in the world.