ADad 1: rationale and study design for Anxiety Disorders among adolescents in a rural community population in India.

OBJECTIVE

The Anxiety Disorders among adolescents (ADad) study aimed to document the prevalence, clinical pattern, co-morbidities, predictive factors, relationship with depression, associated suicidal phenomenon and school phobia of Anxiety Disorders in a rural community population in India. This paper reviews the rationale and study design used as well as discusses the strengths and limitations of the survey.

METHODS

The ADad was a cross-sectional study that recruited 537 adolescents, with anganwadi workers, representative of the population aged 11-19 y. Trained raters independently administered the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), SAD PERSONS scale and Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children/Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). Appropriate bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were done.

RESULTS

Five hundred adolescents opted to participate and completed the study. About 37% of boys and 63.4% of girls responded to the measures, almost comparable with the gender distribution in the panchayat.

CONCLUSIONS

The ADad study creates a comprehensive database on validation of measure, the prevalence, clinical pattern, co-morbidities, predictive factors, relationship with depression, associated outcomes of suicidal phenomenon, school phobia, impairment associated with Anxiety Disorders and policy recommendations in a community population of adolescents in India. These data will enable policy makers to rationally plan clinical services and prevention programs for the target population.