The Comparison of Intelligence Efficacy According to Methylphenidate Administration in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) Patients / 영남의대학술지

BACKGROUND: The causes of ADHD(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are various, it is impossible to understand the whole characteristics of ADHD, only with simple intellignece testing scales. We compared cognitive characteristics of ADHD group with normal controls with Korean Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children(K-ABC), It is well known to evaluate neuropsychological and cognitive aspects of the children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Age and sex matched 40 ADHD patients and 40 normal controls tested with the K-ABC. Each subscales compared between pre-treatment patients and controls, pre-treatment and post-treatment in patient group, post-treatment patients and controls. RESULTS: Significant differences are ovserved in sequential processing, simultaneous processing, cognitive processing and achievement between pre-treatment patients and controls, and in gestalt closure between pre-treatment and post-treatment patients group. But there are no significant differences between pre-treatment patients and controls in gestalt closure and reading/decoding. CONCLUSIONS: Methylphenidate improved the scores of simultaneous scale, which means improvement of executive functions such as divided attention, analysis and organization. Methylphenidate also reduced distractibility.

Information Processing Characteristics of the Patients with Specific Language Impairment Using Kaufman-Assessment Battery for Children

OBJECTIVE: To determine the characteristic pattern of information processing in the children with specific language impairment (SLI) using the Kaufman-Assessment Battery (K-ABC) for children. METHOD: Thirty patients were responded to K-ABC. Twenty-three of them were diagnosed as SLI without any abnormalities in other developmental areas, visual or auditory system. Seven patients showed language delay with other developmental abnormalities. Mean chronological age of SLI patients was 61.0 months. Patterns of information processing was measured using K-ABC. Sequential processing, simultaneous processing, mental processing, and achievement scales were obtained and compared between two groups. RESULTS: In SLI patients, sequential processing, simultaneous processing, mental processing, and achievement scales were 32.9+/-34.2, 54.3+/-26.9, 42.5+/-31.1, and 33.8+/-28.7, respectively. The SLI patients showed significantly poor scales in sequential than in simultaneous processing (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The patients with SLI exhibited significant deficits in sequential processing, whereas simultaneous processing was better than that of the other group in this study. This characteristics of SLI patients will be useful for understanding and establishing proper therapeutic strategies for these patients.