[Mental health of children living in rural high- and low-altitude areas of the Ivano-Frankovsk district (clinico-epidemiological study)]

Abstract

Altogether 1,179 children aged 7 to 14 years, living in mountain and lowland villages were examined. There were 579 boys and 600 girls. In highlands, mental deficiency was most often diagnosed in boys (56.5 per 1,000), whereas in girls, it was 39 per 1,000. In boys and girls living in lowland villages, mental deficiency was encountered more seldom (36.3 and 21 per 1,000, respectively). The boys living in highlands mostly exhibited neuroses (34 per 1,000) accompanied by neurosis-like enuresis (62%) and speech disturbances (12%). Among the girls living in lowlands, predominant were neuroses (47 against 16 per 1,000) and psychotic disorders (they occurred 6.3 times more frequently than in highlands). In rural highlands and lowlands, mental disorders were most commonly recorded in boys (1:1.52 and 1:1.45, respectively).