ADHD, depression the most common mental disorders among Hong Kong primary, secondary schoolchildren, surveys reveal
- ADHD is most prevalent mental disorder among primary school pupils, while depression is leading one across secondary students
- ‘When we are drafting policies and allocating resources, we would need to be more targeting,’ city’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health chief says
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression are the most common mental disorders among Hong Kong’s primary and secondary schoolchildren, government-commissioned surveys have shown.
Wong Yan-lung, chairman of the city’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health, on Friday said the findings could indicate whether the government was allocating the resources necessary to target the issues, as he shared some key figures of the surveys that would be revealed soon to the public.
Speaking at an event on mental health issues, Wong revealed that according to a survey commissioned by the government involving 6,000 children and adolescents aged between six and 17, ADHD was the most prevalent mental disorder among primary school pupils. This represents around 13 per cent of the group.
Depression was not common among the younger children but was the leading mental health problem across secondary school students, with about 10 per cent suffering from the disorder. It was followed by anxiety at 7.8 per cent.
Wong did not reveal the respective numbers of primary and secondary schoolchildren surveyed.
In another government-commissioned survey involving 4,500 people aged 60 or above, Wong said 70 per cent of the elderly living in care homes had severe forms of dementia. The survey details are yet to be announced to the public. Of the city’s overall elderly population, 22 per cent have displayed early signs of the neurodegenerative disease.
