Citation

Yamauchi Y, Fujiwara T, Okuyama M. Community Ment. Health J. 2014; 51(7): 857-861.

Affiliation

Department of Psychosocial Medicine, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10597-014-9803-y

PMID

25535050

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the factors associated with a time lag between initial parental concern about ADHD symptoms and the first visit to a hospital in Japan that offers child psychiatric services. We investigated the demographic characteristic, symptoms, diagnosis, and healthcare system factors including duration between initial parental concern about symptoms and the first visit to a hospital (N = 387). The mean time lag between initial parental concern and the first visit to a hospital was 2.6 years. Risk factors for a longer time lag include the young age of a child, behavioral problems of the child, lower maternal education, difficulty in determining appropriate medical institution, referral route, and the distance from home to the hospital. A more established connection between a hospital with child psychiatric services and other health institutions is recommended for earlier referral to an appropriate hospital.

Language: en