An attempt to utilise "Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents (MINI Kid)" to assess the frequency of mental disorders in patients of paediatric wards

Introduction
Interviews used for scientific purposes constitute a diagnostic tool intended for studies both of adults and kids. Structured interviews constitute a tool characterised by high inter-rater reliability and test-retest reliability.

Goal of the studies
Analysis of the frequency of occurrence of mental disorders in children aged 14-17 subject to inpatient stay due to various paediatric reasons and evaluation of the usefulness of the "Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Kids" in detecting mental disorders in children.

Method
Studies over adolescents made use of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Kids, which is a fully structured tool covering 25 mental disorders. The study covered a group of 106 patients of General Paediatric Wards -79 girls and 27 boys.

Results
The frequency of mental disorders in the studied group amounted to 41.5% (44.3% girls; 33.3% boys). Concomitance of at least two mental disorders was confirmed in 42% of the patients with the diagnosis in the interview. Statistical analysis showed a relationship between more frequent occurrence of mental disorders among the adolescents and low birth weight, being raised by a mother and a stepfather or guardians not being biological parents. A relationship between more frequent occurrence of mental disorders among the youth and the age and education of the parents, the number of siblings was not proven.

Conclusions
The frequency of diagnosing mental disorders with the use of MINI Kids in adolescents subject to inpatient stay due to paediatric reasons reaches 41%. Each patient with diagnosed mental disorder with the use of the MINI Kids should be subject to psychiatric/psychological examination to verify the diagnosis. MINI Kids is an easy and simple tool for screening assessment of the occurrence of mental disorders among children and should be applied in hospital practice to assess the risk of mental disorders in children.