Incidence of catatonia in children and adolescents in a paediatric psychiatric clinic

Objective: To investigate the incidence and phenomenology of catatonia in a child and adolescent population. Method: Children and adolescents who had attended a paediatric psychiatric outpatient clinic between April and July 2001 were examined for catatonic signs with a formal catatonia rating scale, and patients who had at least two catatonic signs were included. Results: Eleven patients met the criteria (5.5% of the entire sample and 17.7% of the patients with affective and nonaffective psychotic disorder); of them eight had an affective disorder and three a nonaffective disorder. The mean catatonic scores were significantly high for males and patients with mental retardation. Conclusion: This study shows that catatonia occurs in children and adolescents. Further studies are essential to clarify the distribution of catatonia across various diagnoses and the outcome of paediatric catatonia.