Yuvaraj Krishnamoorthy, Kumar Giriyappa Dinesh, Priyan Shanthosh, Yamini Marimuthu, Kumar Saya Ganesh, Subitha Lakshminarayanan
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, 605008, India, Phone: +91 9551892665.
Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, India.
Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2018 Nov 6;33(1):/j/ijamh.ahead-of-print/ijamh-2018-0037/ijamh-2018-0037.xml. doi: 10.1515/ijamh-2018-0037.
The World Health Organisation has reported that mental disorders are one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Social phobia is one such mental disorder that can have significant impact on the livelihood of adults if not detected at an early stage. There have been very few studies done on social phobia among adolescents in South India. Hence, this study was done to determine the prevalence of social phobia and factors associated with it among the school-going adolescents in rural Puducherry.
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1018 school going adolescents from December 2017 to January 2018 in rural Puducherry. Information on socio-demographic characteristics was collected by a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and social phobia was assessed using the validated Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) questionnaire.
Among 1018 participants, 738 (72.5%) belonged to early adolescence (10-13 years); 520 (51.1%) were boys; 557 (54.7%) were studying in a middle class; 931 (91.5%) were Hindus; 978 (96.1%) had siblings.The prevalence of social phobia among adolescents was found to be 22.9% (95% CI: 20.4-25.5%). The prevalence of mild social phobia was 18% [95% confidence interval (CI): 15.7-20.4%], moderate social phobia was 4% (95% CI: 2.9-5.4%), severe social phobia was 0.7% (95% CI: 0.3-1.3%) and very severe social phobia was 0.2% (95% CI: 0.03-0.64%). Higher age, female gender, lack of counselling services and specialist visits at school were found to be determinants of social phobia.
The current study showed that one in every five adolescents was at risk of developing social phobia. Health education for students, teachers and family members needs to be given to make them aware of the importance of social phobia.
世界卫生组织报告称，精神障碍是全球致残的主要原因之一。社交恐惧症就是这样一种精神障碍，如果不及早发现，会对成年人的生活产生重大影响。在印度南部，针对青少年社交恐惧症的研究非常少。因此，本研究旨在确定印度本地治里农村地区在校青少年中社交恐惧症的患病率及其相关因素。
2017年12月至2018年1月，在印度本地治里农村地区对1018名在校青少年开展了一项基于社区的横断面研究。通过预先测试的半结构化问卷收集社会人口学特征信息，并使用经过验证的社交恐惧症量表（SPIN）问卷评估社交恐惧症。
在1018名参与者中，738名（72.5%）属于青春期早期（10 - 13岁）；520名（51.1%）为男孩；557名（54.7%）就读于中等阶层学校；931名（91.5%）为印度教徒；978名（96.1%）有兄弟姐妹。青少年社交恐惧症的患病率为22.9%（95%置信区间：20.4 - 25.5%）。轻度社交恐惧症的患病率为18%[95%置信区间（CI）：15.7 - 20.4%]，中度社交恐惧症为4%（95% CI：2.9 - 5.4%），重度社交恐惧症为0.7%（95% CI：0.3 - 1.3%），极重度社交恐惧症为0.2%（95% CI：0.03 - 0.64%）。研究发现，年龄较大、女性、学校缺乏咨询服务以及缺乏专家问诊是社交恐惧症的决定因素。
当前研究表明，每五名青少年中就有一人有患社交恐惧症的风险。需要对学生、教师和家庭成员进行健康教育，使他们认识到社交恐惧症的重要性。
