History of childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among adult substance users in selected drug rehabilitation centers: A descriptive study

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to determine the prevalence of ADHD among substance users in selected rehabilitation centers admitted from September 1,2008 to October 31,2008 using the Wender-Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS).METHODOLOGY: A total of 104 recovering adult substance users (CI 95%) from rehabilitation centers were included by purposive sampling. They were then asked to answer an information set and subsequently WURS & ASRS was administered, either self-administered or clinician-assisted.RESULTS: In this study, the prevalence of childhood ADHD among adult substance users using WURS was 23.1%. Of the 80 (77.1%) who didn't reach the cut-off score of 46, twenty-one subjects (20.2%) had WURS scores between 39-45 may have possible ADHD. About 29 (27.9%) subjects showed adult symptoms of ADHD. However, substance users with atypical depression and borderline personality disorder were not screened out and may account for false positive results.CONCLUSION: About 1/3 of substance users in the study were positive for ADHD using the WURS while 1/5 of those studied had possible ADHD, needing further investigation.