| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physical disorders are commonly comorbid with depression in children attending general medical facilities. However, the depression component is rarely recognised.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A questionnaire on sociodemographics and history of presenting medical conditions was administered together with the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) to all 11-year-old to 17-year-old children attending at nine medical facilities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, 408 children were recruited from 9 health facilities. Whereas the clinicians diagnosed a mental disorder in only 2.5% of the sample studied, 41.3% had CDI scores that suggested mild to moderate depression. The highest proportion of children with depressive symptomatology was found at the Kenyatta National and Teaching Referral Hospital.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although prevalence rate for depression among children is high, detection rates remain low. This finding has clinical practice and policy implications within and outside Kenya.</p>
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