[Phonological awareness in child with attention deficit disorder without learning disabilities]. / Conciencia fonoloóica en niños con trastorno de la atención sin dificultades en el aprendizaje.

INTRODUCTION: Phonological awareness problems have been reported in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, other researches found that phonological awareness problem appear only in children with learning disabilities (LD). OBJECTIVE: To analyze the performance on phonological awareness tasks of children aged 7 to11 years with ADHD combined type (ADHD/+H), and inattentive type (ADHD/-H) compared with one control group. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A non-randomized sample consisting of 96 children of both genders was selected. Children were attending to school in Medellin, Colombia. The sample was classified into three groups of 32 participants: ADHD/+H, ADHD/-H and control. LD was excluded using a standardized questionnaire for teachers (CEPA). Groups were sorted using a T score (3) 60 for cases and T score pound 50 for controls on a standardized questionnaire with DSM-IV-ADHD criteria, and on an ADHD-DSM-IV checklist. The performances of the three groups on phonological awareness tasks, as auditory discrimination, visual recognition, sequential repetition, oral segmentation, syllable inversion, similar words reading and writing, and pseudo-words reading and writing, were compared. RESULTS: Differences between ADHD and control children on phonological awareness tasks scores were not found. CONCLUSION: Children with ADHD without LD performed similarly to controls on phonological awareness tasks.

[Attention and executive function tests components in attention deficit/hyperactivity children]. / Componentes de las pruebas de atención y función ejecutiva en niños con trastorno por déficit de atención/hiperactividad.

INTRODUCTION: It has been suggested that children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have problems in attention and executive functions. A factor analysis showed that ADHD children had a different factor structure of the executive functions when they were compared with controls. AIM. To determine the factor structure of attention and executive functions in a group of ADHD children compared with a group of controls. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 249 ADHD children and 372 controls of both genders, aged 6 to 11 years old, and from the different socio economic strata of Medellín city, were selected. Attention --Mental Control and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (ACPT)-- and executive functions --Phonologic and Semantic Verbal Fluency (FAS)--, and a shortened version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were assessed in both groups. Factor analyses were developed with principal components procedure were developed for each group and the total sample, using principal component procedure with orthogonal rotation. RESULTS: Stable factor structures were found for each group and for the total sample. The general factor structure was constituted by three independent factors: 1- Categorization, 2- Verbal fluency and verbal sustained attention, and 3- Cognitive flexibility. This factor structure explained 74.9% of the variance. CONCLUSION: The factor structures suggested that the components of attention and executive functions are similar for ADHD and control groups. The differences between groups would be quantitative.