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Lookup NU author(s): Emerita Professor Helen McConachie
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2019.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Background: The 2017 political violence against the Rohingya people in the state of Rakhine resulted in a large influx of displaced populations into Bangladesh. Given harsh conditions and experiences in Myanmar, and the harrowing journey to the border, raised levels of child neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and mental health problems were expected. Methods: A team of child development professionals, physicians, psychologists, and developmental therapists screened 622 children in clinics within the refugee camps using the Developmental Screening Questionnaire (DSQ; 0–<2 years), and the Ten Questions Plus (TQP) for NDDs, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; 2–16 years) for mental health problems. Any child positive on the DSQ or the TQP was assessed for NDDs. Results: Only 4.8% children aged 0–<2 years and 7.3% children aged >2–16 years screened positive for NDDs, comparable with a local Bangladesh population. However, 52% of children were in the abnormal range for emotional symptoms on the SDQ, and 25% abnormal for peer problems. Significant risk factors were being parentless and having lost one or more family members in the recent crisis. Conclusions: This screening study provides objective evidence of the urgent need for psychosocial support of Rohingya children within camps, with special attention to those without parents, including monitoring of their well-being and counselling of families and other care providers.
Author(s): Khan NZ, Shilpi AB, Sultana R, Sarker S, Razia S, Roy B, Arif A, Ahmed MU, Saha SC, McConachie H
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Child: Care, Health and Development
Year: 2019
Volume: 45
Issue: 1
Pages: 28-35
Print publication date: 01/01/2019
Online publication date: 18/10/2018
Acceptance date: 07/10/2018
Date deposited: 05/12/2018
ISSN (print): 0305-1862
ISSN (electronic): 1365-2214
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12623
DOI: 10.1111/cch.12623
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