Referral Profile to Occupational Therapy in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Türkiye

Öz

Background: Occupational therapy (OT) is widely used in children with psychiatric conditions, particularly for sensory processing difficulties, yet data on referral patterns and clinical characteristics in child and adolescent psychiatry remain limited. This study aimed to examine children referred to an OT unit from a child and adolescent psychiatry setting in Türkiye and to explore referral patterns across diagnostic categories and age groups. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 205 children referred to an occupational therapy unit from a child and adolescent psychiatry clinic. Sociodemographic and clinical data were obtained from medical records, and referral reasons were categorized based on clinical evaluation. Referral patterns were analyzed across age groups using the chi-square test and across diagnostic categories descriptively.
Results: The median age of the children was 73.5 months (range: 15–213), and 74.6% were male, 49.3% of the sample were aged ≤6 years. ASD was the most frequent diagnosis (57.5%), followed by attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (33.2%) and global developmental delay/intellectual disability (31.2%). Sensory sensitivity was the most common referral reason (42.0%), followed by sensory seeking (20.0%) and routine ASD evaluation (12.7 %). Referral patterns did not differ significantly across age groups, however, referrals were most frequent in the preschool period.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that OT referrals in child and adolescent psychiatry are predominantly driven by neurodevelopmental disorders and sensory processing difficulties, particularly sensory sensitivity. The concentration of referrals in early childhood underscores the clinical emphasis on early identification and multidisciplinary intervention.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Occupational therapy
• Sensory processing
• Sensory sensitivity
• Child and adolescent psychiatry
• Neurodevelopmental disorders

Destekleyen Kurum

No institution or organization supported this study.

Etik Beyan

Ethics committee approval was obtained from the Karadeniz Teknik University Scientific Research Ethics Committee of a Faculty of Medicine (approval no: 2025/241-15, date: 22/09/2025). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Teşekkür

None.

Türkiye’de Çocuk ve Ergen Ruh Sağlığı Hizmetlerinde Ergoterapiye Yönlendirme Profili

Öz

Amaç: Ergoterapi (ET), özellikle duyusal işlemleme güçlüklerinin ele alınmasında, psikiyatrik bozukluğu olan çocuklarda yaygın olarak kullanılmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, çocuk ve ergen psikiyatrisi alanında ergoterapiye yönlendirme örüntüleri ve yönlendirilen hastaların klinik özelliklerine ilişkin veriler sınırlıdır. Bu çalışmada, Türkiye’de çocuk ve ergen psikiyatrisi ortamından ergoterapi birimine yönlendirilen çocukların özelliklerinin incelenmesi ve tanı kategorileri ile yaş gruplarına göre yönlendirme örüntülerinin araştırılması amaçlanmıştır.
Materyal ve metod: Bu retrospektif çalışmaya, çocuk ve ergen psikiyatrisi kliniğinden ergoterapi birimine yönlendirilen 205 çocuk dahil edilmiştir. Sosyodemografik ve klinik veriler tıbbi kayıtlardan elde edilmiş ve yönlendirme nedenleri klinik değerlendirmeye göre kategorize edilmiştir. Yönlendirme örüntüleri yaş gruplarına göre ki-kare testi ile, tanı kategorilerine göre ise tanımlayıcı olarak analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular: Çocukların ortanca yaşı 73,5 ay (15-213) olup, %74,6’sı erkektir, örneklemin %49,3’ü ≤6 yaş grubundadır. En sık tanı otizm spektrum bozukluğu (OSB) (%57,5) olup, bunu dikkat eksikliği hiperaktivite bozukluğu (%33,2) ve global gelişimsel gecikme/zihinsel yetersizlik (%31,2) izlemiştir. En sık yönlendirme nedeni duyusal hassasiyet (%42,0) olarak bulunmuş, bunu duyusal arayış (%20,0) ve rutin OSB değerlendirmesi (%12,7) izlemiştir. Yönlendirme örüntüleri yaş grupları arasında anlamlı farklılık göstermemiş, ancak yönlendirmeler en sık okul öncesi dönemde yapılmıştır.
Sonuç: Bu bulgular, çocuk ve ergen psikiyatrisinde ergoterapiye yönlendirmelerin büyük ölçüde nörogelişimsel bozukluklar ve duyusal işlemleme güçlükleri, özellikle duyusal hassasiyet tarafından yönlendirildiğini göstermektedir. Yönlendirmelerin erken çocukluk döneminde yoğunlaşması, erken tanılama ve multidisipliner müdahalenin klinik önemini vurgulamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Ergoterapi
• Duyusal işlemleme
• Duyusal hassasiyet
• Çocuk ve ergen psikiyatrisi
• Nörogelişimsel bozukluklar

Destekleyen Kurum

Bu çalışmayı destekleyen herhangi bir kurum veya kuruluş bulunmamaktadır.

Etik Beyan

Ethics committee approval was obtained from the Karadeniz Teknik University Scientific Research Ethics Committee of a Faculty of Medicine (approval no: 2025/241-15, date: 22/09/2025). The study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Teşekkür

Yoktur.

Kaynakça

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