Unilateral neglect in children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder

ABSTRACT

Visuo-spatial attention is an ability by which a portion of visuo-spatial space is selected for efficient processing of the information orienting from it. people show a normal bias in visuo-spatial attention. The direction of this bias in Attention deficit Hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] is different from normal people's bias. Some cases diagnosed with ADHD can show a significant inattention in one side of the space, which is called unilateral neglect. The aim of this study is to investigate on how the visou-spatial bias is in children with ADHD. In this cross-sectional study, fifteen children [7-10 years] were classified with ADHD-combined type [ADHD-C] and 15 children were matched for age, gender and IQ. Samples had been chosen through simple random sampling and they did Wechsler Intelligence Scale for children [WISC-IV] and also the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory for assessing whether they had inclusion criteria or not. For participants, visuo-spatial attention was assessed using the Star Cancellation Test. The results suggest that, there is a significant difference between ADHD-C groups performance and control group's performance in the Star Cancellation Test [p<0.05]. Unilateral neglect recognized in ADHD-C group and it was in the left half of the space. There is a significant difference in visuo-spatial attention between ADHD group and control group. Moreover, unilateral neglect which has seen in some ADHD-C cases should consider as an important item in this disorder. Further research in this area is needed