ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Childhood obesity has been associated with many physical and mental health problems.A significant relationship has been reported between psychiatric disorders, especially attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) in obese patients due to the melanocortin 4 receptor(MC4R) gene variant, and it has been claimed that these two conditions may share common molecular pathways. However, studies on this subject are quite insufficient.

Purpose: To determine the frequency of psychiatric disorders in non-syndromic monogenic obese patients, the distribution of diagnosis, and their difference from exogenous obesity.

Method: Nineteen non-syndromic monogenic obese(group 1) and18 exogenous obese(group 2) patients were included in the study. Demographic data and anthropometric measurements were recorded from patient files. All cases were evaluated in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic according to the “Semi-Stuctured Schedule for Affective Disorders”,“Schizophrenia forSchool-Age Children - Present and Lifetime Version-Turkish Adaptation”,“Depression Scale for Children for Depression Screening and Grading”and “Childhood Anxiety Disorders Self-Report Scale (CAD-SR)” was used to screen, rate and categorize anxiety and worry levels. For parents, “Conners' Parent Rating Scale-Revised Long Form”, which was validated and reliable between the ages of 3-18 to evaluate attention deficit and hyperactivity findings,“Social Responsiveness Scale” for screening autistic features, and “Child Sleeping Habits Questionnaire” for assessing sleep habits was applied.

Results: Group1 had lower mean age, weight standard deviation score, body mass index(BMI)SDS, while AST, ALT, and thyroid stimulating hormone was statistically significantly higher. At least one psychiatric disorder was detected in 89.5% of group1 and 77.8% of group2. Exogenous obese subjects had a higher assessment of the“Conners Parent Rating Scale's” psychosomatic sub-dimension(p:0.017) and“CAD-SR” social anxiety sub-dimension(p:0.027). In addition, the sub-dimensions of BMISDS were positively correlated with “Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire” sleep distress(r:0.344, p:0.049), daytime sleepiness (r:0.473, p:0.005) and sleep scale total score(r:0.39, p:0.025). Itwas observed that the exogenous obese group had higher scores inthe psychosomatic sub-dimension of“Conner's Parent Scale” and “CAD-SR” social anxiety. The high level of psychosomatic sub-dimension in the exogenous obesity group continued to be significant when the monogenic obese groups were divided into MC4R and others(p:0.038).

Conclusion: There was no difference between the obese groups devided into non-syndromic monogenic obesity and exogenous obesity, in terms of having a psychiatric disorder. At least one psychiatric disorder was detected with a very high frequency in both non-syndromic monogenic obese and exogenous obese patients. Therefore, routine psychiatric consultation may be required for these patients, regardless of the etiology of obesity.