How anxious are regular school going children in the city of Mumbai?

Completed

• Conditions: Anxiety

• Registration Number: CTRI/2017/08/009512
• Lead Sponsor: Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital

Brief Summary

**Background and Objectives:**Anxiety disorders usually remain undiagnosed in school students owing to the internalized nature of its symptoms. The present study was conducted with the primary objective of evaluating the prevalence of anxiety in school children in Mumbai city. A secondary objective was to assess the impact of confoundingfactors on anxiety.

**Materials and Methods:**Thestudy cases (aged 8-15 years) were recruited from four English medium schools in Mumbai, India. The SCAS T-scores (total and subscales) of the students were calculated and cut-off T-scores>60 was considered as indicative of elevated anxiety levelas recommended.

**Results:**One-tenth (10.8%) of regular school students had “clinical anxietyâ€. A significantly higher proportion of regular students “aged 12-15 years†(18.0% *vs.* 4.8%, crude OR = 4.36, 95% CI 2.27 to 8.39, *P*< 0.0001) had “clinical anxiety†as compared to regular students “aged 8-11 yearsâ€regardless ofgender, absence or presence of sibling(s), the type of school board curriculum and type of school attended. All the five types of anxiety disorders were present in the study cases; with “obsessions/compulsions†and “fears of physical injury†being the commonest (in 29.6% and 27.2%, respectively). Significantly higher proportions ofolder students (aged 12-15 years) and male students had greater odds of having specific subtypes of anxiety disorders such as “obsessions/compulsions†and “social anxiety.â€

**Interpretation and Conclusions:**The results of the present study suggest that there is an urgent need to start screening school students in our city for anxiety disorders.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Completion: 2013-09-30
• Study Start: 2013-10-07
• Last Update Posted: 2021-08-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 493

Inclusion Criteria

Children of either gender, between 8-15 years of age, conversant in English and who have a consistently average academic performance (obtaining 60-90% marks or Grade B) were included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

Exclusions were children with chronic health conditions (such as epilepsy, asthma, allergic rhinitis, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and obesity), children who have been reported to be inattentive, hyperactive or disruptive in the classroom, those with poor academic performance (obtaining less than 60% marks or Grade C and below) or those excelling in studies (achieving more than 90% marks or Grade A and above).

Study & Design

• Study Type: Observational
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Presence [or absence] of anxiety using the SCAS scoring system	One single time point. This is when the actual interview will take place, this being a cross sectional tudy

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
To evaluate the impact of socio-demographic characteristics of the school children on their anxiety level.	To evaluate the impact of socio-demographic characteristics of the school children on their anxiety levels.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Learning Disability Clinic; 🇮🇳 Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA, India

Learning Disability Clinic

🇮🇳Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA, India

Dr Sunil Karande

Principal investigator

9322934309

karandesunil@gmail.com