RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate all the potential routes to Child/Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic-University Hospital Center (CAPC-UHC) in Tirana. The article provides demographic data, as well as further information on the types and amounts of services children/adolescents received during the process of seeking help related to different diagnoses. METHOD: The study was conducted in CAPC-UHC in Tirana, during September 2006-September 2007. Data were collected from 162 children and their parents using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Pathways Encounter Form. The sample consisted of 53.1% (86) males and 46.9% (76) females. The mean age was 9.5+4.4 years. RESULTS: Out of the total number of cases that sought care to CAPC; 55, 6% were referred by parents themselves, while the rest were referred by others. There was a significant effect of gender to intervals from the onset of problem to the first career (F=10.803, p=0.001), as well as a significant effect of gender to total time intervals from the onset till the specialist of child mental health problem (F=6.742, p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study investigating the help seeking process to psychiatric care in CAPC Tirana-Albania and may serve as a good start in generating evidence based on child/adolescent mental health service. Further multicentre studies will enhance the values of the findings, since the present study was performed in a single service, and in a setting lacking previous works with similar scope that could have served as references.
RESUMO
Albania, situated in the western Balkans, has an area of 28 748 km2 and a population of 3 069 275 (year 2001), almost one-third of whom are aged 0-14 years. Life expectancy is estimated to be 70.4 years for both sexes (World Health Organization, 2003a). According to the World Health Organization's classification, Albania is a country with low child and low adult mortality rates. The nation's total expenditure on health in 2001 amounted to 3.7% of gross domestic product.