This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
Fewer than one in 15 young people in south London estimated to have a mental health disorder may have received a diagnosis from NHS mental health services, according to a new study from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London.
The study is published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health—Europe.
Diagnosis is an important step toward delivering recommended evidence-based treatment, and NHS mental health services are the main state-funded providers of such treatment for young people with mental health disorders. But little is known about how many young people with disorders receive a diagnosis from these services.
In this study of 17-year-olds in south London, researchers compared the number diagnosed in NHS mental health services between 2009 and 2024, based on electronic health records, with the number living in the general population during the same period, based on Office for National Statistics data.
They then compared the number who were diagnosed with estimates of the number in the population who would have met criteria for a mental health disorder and the number who would also have seen any health professional for help with their mental health.
These estimates came from interviews with over 2,000 young people in the nationally representative Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study and were weighted to reflect the characteristics of south London 17-year-olds.
4% in 2024, suggesting that more young people's mental health needs are being identified by these services.
Source link







