This annual report - Taranaki District Health Board

Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorders: During 2009–2011, the number of childrenaccessing mental health services with autism/pervasive developmental disordersincreased rapidly between three and nine years of age. Rates then remained relativelystatic during late childhood, but increased to a second peak at 14 years of age, beforedeclining again during the mid to late teens (Figure 130).Learning Disorders and Intellectual Disabilities: During 2009–2011, the number of childrenaccessing mental health services with learning disorders or intellectual disabilitiesincreased during mid to late childhood, with rates for those with learning disabilities beingrelatively static between nine and fourteen years, and then declining during the mid to lateteens. The number accessing services with intellectual disabilities however graduallyincreased until fourteen years of age, before declining again (Figure 130).Numbers Accessing Services by Diagnosis, Ethnicity and GenderAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: In New Zealand during 2009–2011, the number ofchildren accessing mental health services with a diagnosis of ADHD was significantlyhigher for males and for European/Other > Māori > Pacific children. While similar patternswere seen for mental health service contacts and inpatient bed nights, no Pacific childrenwere admitted overnight with ADHD during this period (Table 92).Conduct/Disruptive Behaviour Disorders: During 2009–2011, a significantly higher numberof males accessed mental health services with conduct/disruptive behaviour disorders.While rates were similar for European/Other and Māori children accessing services, rateswere significantly lower for Pacific children. While a similar pattern was seen for inpatientbed nights, Māori children had a significantly higher number of mental health servicecontacts than European/Other or Pacific children (Table 92).Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorders: During 2009–2011, the number of childrenaccessing mental health services with autism/pervasive developmental disorders wassignificantly higher for males and for European/Other > Māori > Pacific children. While asimilar pattern was seen for mental health service contacts and inpatient bed nights, lessthan three Pacific children were admitted overnight with autism/pervasive developmentaldisorders during this period (Table 93).Intellectual Disabilities: During 2009–2011, a significantly higher number of malesaccessed mental health services with intellectual disabilities. While rates were similar forEuropean/Other and Māori children accessing services, rates were significantly lower forPacific children. In contrast, the number of mental health service contacts was significantlyhigher for Māori > European/Other > Pacific children. While a similar pattern was seen forinpatient bed nights, less than three Pacific children were admitted overnight withintellectual disabilities during this period (Table 93).Learning Disorders: During 2009–2011, the number of children accessing mental healthservices with learning disorders was significantly higher for males and for European/Other> Māori > Pacific children. While a similar pattern was seen for mental health servicecontacts and inpatient bed nights, no Pacific children were admitted overnight with learningdisorders during this period (Table 94).Parent-Child Relational Problems: During 2009–2011, the number of children accessingmental health services with parent-child relational problems was significantly (albeit onlymarginally) higher for males and for European/Other children, than for Māori or Pacificchildren. Similar patterns were seen for mental health service contacts and inpatient bednights (Table 94).Access to Mental Health Services in Children - 361