prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity symptoms in schoolchildren in a highly consanguineous community

ABSTRACT

The objective of the present study was to find the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity [ADH] symptoms in a sample of primary schoolchildren in Qatar and investigate the behaviour of the children with and without ADH symptoms in a highly consanguineous community. A total of 2,500 primary school students, aged 6-12 years, were randomly selected from the government primary schools, and 1,869 students [947 boys and 922 girls] gave consent to participate in this study. An Arabic questionnaire was used to collect the sociodemographic variables and a standardized Arabic version of the Conners' Teacher Rating Scale for ADH symptoms. Of the 947 boys, 158 [16.7%; 95% confidence interval, CI, 14.4-19.2] and of the 922 girls, 50 [5.4%; 95% CI 4.1-7.1] scored above the cut-off [>/= 15] for ADH symptoms, thus giving an overall prevalence of 11.1% [95% CI 9.7-12.6]. The children who had higher scores for ADH symptoms were in the age group of 6-9 years. Children who had higher scores for ADH symptoms had a poorer school performance than those with lower scores [p = 0.002]. Two hundred [96.2%] children with ADH were disobedient, 126 [60.6%] noisy and hyperactive, 76 [36.5%] very cranky, 78 [37.5%] troublesome and 79 [37.9%] nervous. The logistic regression identified socio-economic condition, number of children, school performance and poor relationship between parents as the main contributors to ADH. Although the univariate analysis showed a significant relationship [p = 0.010] between ADH symptoms and consanguineous parents, logistic regression did not support this association [p = 0.075]. This suggests that consanguinity has no impact on ADH children. The study revealed that ADH is a common problem among schoolchildren. The children with higher scores for ADH symptoms had a poorer school performance than those with lower scores. A significant difference exists between the behaviour of children with and without ADH