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BackgroundEarly-Onset Schizophrenia (EOS) is rare but severe mental health disorder in children and adolescents. Diagnosis of schizophrenia before the age of 18 years remains complex and challenging, especially in young children. In France, there are no recent reliable epidemiological data about the prevalence of EOS. The present study evaluates the EOS rate in a target clinical population of children and adolescents in psychiatric and medico-social care centres in the South-East of France.MethodsPsychiatric and medico-social centres for children and adolescent in the geographical area have been contacted, and after receiving their agreement to participate in the study, eligible patients corresponding to inclusion criteria were selected based on patients' medical records. Main inclusion criteria were age 7 to 17 years and intelligence quotient > 35. EOS categorical diagnosis was assessed by Kiddie-SADS Present and Lifetime psychosis section.Results37 centres participated and 302 subjects have been included in the study. The main result was the categorical diagnosis of EOS in 27 subjects, corresponding to a rate of 8.9% in the study population. Half of the patients presented mild to moderate intellectual deficiency. Interestingly, only 2.3% had a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder noted in their medical records before standardized assessment.ConclusionsThe results of the study highlight the importance of using a standardized diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of schizophrenia in the paediatric population. In fact, EOS might be underdiagnosed in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders and subnormal cognitive functioning.Trial registrationNCT01512641. Registered 19 January 2012; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01512641.