Parental psychological distress associated with COVID-19 outbreak: A large-scale multicenter survey from Turkey

Aims: Pandemics can cause substantial psychological distress; however, we do not know the impact of the COVID-19 related lockdown and mental health burden on the parents of school age children. We aimed to comparatively examine the COVID-19 related the stress and psychological burden of the parents with different occupational, locational, and mental health status related backgrounds. Methods: A large-scale multicenter online survey was completed by the parents (n = 3,278) of children aged 6 to 18 years, parents with different occupational (health care workers—HCW [18.2%] vs. others), geographical (İstanbul [38.2%] vs. others), and psychiatric (child with a mental disorder [37.8%]) backgrounds. Results: Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that being a HCW parent (odds ratio 1.79, p <.001), a mother (odds ratio 1.67, p <.001), and a younger parent (odds ratio 0.98, p =.012); living with an adult with a chronic physical illness (odds ratio 1.38, p <.001), having an acquaintance diagnosed with COVID-19 (odds ratio 1.22, p =.043), positive psychiatric history (odds ratio 1.29, p <.001), and living with a child with moderate or high emotional distress (odds ratio 1.29, p <.001; vs. odds ratio 2.61, p <.001) were independently associated with significant parental distress. Conclusions: Parents report significant psychological distress associated with COVID-19 pandemic and further research is needed to investigate its wider impact including on the whole family unit. © The Author(s) 2020

Oral Health Status in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross Sectional Study from Turkey

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the oral and dental health status of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the clinical and sociodemographic factors that might be associated with it.Methods: This cross-sectional study included 83 children with ASD (3-18 years old). ASD diagnosis was based on DSM-5 criteria. Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) and Personal Information Form were filled by the parents. Oral examination of each patient was performed by the same experienced dentist and the presence of dental caries and dental plaque was recorded.Results: The mean ± SD age of subjects was 8.10±4.14 years and the male gender was 78.3% (n = 65). It was determined that 81.9% of the patients had caries and the mean total DMFT/dmft value of the subjects was 4,75 ± 3,66. In the linear multiple regression model, the relationship of the child's age (p = 0.0) and the ABC total score (p = 0.02) to the DMFT score were found statistically significant.Conclusion: Healthcare professionals should take into consideration that dental health problems can be observed more in cases that show the symptoms of ASD are severe. It would be beneficial for them to adopt a multidisciplinary approach in the management of cases during the evaluation process.Key words:Autism spectrum disorder; children; dental care; oral healt

High Rates of Internalizing and Externalizing Problems among Syrian Refugees Compared to Turkish Children

Objective: The aims of this study are to determine the prevalence of psychopathologies and the sociodemographic characteristics influencing them among Syrian refugees who have applied to the child and adolescent psychiatry clinic, and to compare them to the cases found within the Turkish population

Successful management of methylphenidate related thrombocytopenia during ADHD treatment: a case report

Methylphenidate is an effective and well tolerated agent frequently used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Thrombocytopenia is defined as a blood platelet count less than 150,000/mm(3), and is an important hematological side-effect capable of causing mild symptoms or severe complications such as intracranial hemorrhage. Thrombocytopenia may develop in association with various causes, including drug use. There have been very few case reports of thrombocytopenia developing during methylphenidate use, and to the best of our knowledge there have been no reports concerning the management of this side-effect. This report describes the development of thrombocytopenia likely related to methylphenidate therapy in an adolescent with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and successful management with a safety switch to atomoxetine