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International Journal of Pediatrics , Vol.2, N.4-3, Serial No.12, December 2014 443
Review Article
http:// ijp.mums.ac.ir
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Children: A
Short Review and Literature
Bibi Leila Hoseini1, Maryam Ajilian2, *Habibolah Taghizade Moghaddam
1
,
Gholamreza Khademi4, Masumeh Saeidi5
1 Midwifery M.Sc., Instructor, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar,
Iran.
2 Ibn-e- Sina Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
3 Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
4Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences,
Mashhad, Iran.
5 Students Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Abstract
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects millions of
children and often persists into adulthood. ADHD includes a combination of problems, such as
difficulty sustaining attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. ADHD is estimated to affect
about 6 to 7 percent of people aged 18 and under when diagnosed via the DSM-IV criteria.
Hyperkinetic disorder when diagnosed via the ICD-10 criteria give rates of between 1 to 2 percent in
this age group. Children in North America appear to have a higher rate of ADHD than children in
Africa and the Middle East; however, this may be due to differing methods of diagnosis used in
different areas of the world. If the same diagnostic methods are used rates are more or less the same
between countries. While treatment won't cure ADHD, it can help a great deal with symptoms.
Treatment typically involves medications and behavioral interventions. Early diagnosis and treatment
can make a big difference in outcome.
Key words: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; Children; Prevalence; World.
*Couresponding Author:
Habibolah Taghizade Moghaddam, Mashhad University of Medical sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Email: Taghizademh1@mums.ac.ir
Received date: Jul 10, 2014 ; Accepted date: Nov 12, 2014
ADHD in Children
International Journal of Pediatrics , Vol.2, N.4-3, Serial No.12, December 2014 444
Introduction
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) is a disorder of childhood and
adolescence characterized by a pattern of
extreme pervasive, persistent and
debilitating inattention, overactivity and
impulsivity. It is believed to be one of the
most common reasons for mental health
referrals to family physicians,
aediatricians,paediatric neurologists and
child and adolescent psychiatrists.
Although originally thought to remit
during childhood, the symptoms of ADHD
have also been shown to persist in patients
through adolescence and into adulthood .
The disorder is often chronic, with one
third to one half of those affected retaining
the condition into adulthood . It interferes
with many areas of normal development
and functioning in a child’s life. Children
with ADHD are more likely than their
peers to experience educational
underachievement, social isolation and
antisocial behaviour during the school
years and to go on to have significant
difficulties in the post-school years (1).
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) is one of the most common
neurodevelopmental disorders of
childhood. The worldwide prevalence in
children ≤18 years has been estimated at
5.3% in a systematic review of 102 studies
from all continents, with a majority from
North America and Europe (2).
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) is characterized by pervasive and
impairing symptoms of inattention,
hyperactivity, and impulsivity according to
DSM-IV (3) . The World Health
Organization (WHO) (4) uses a different
name—hyperkinetic disorder (HD)—but
lists similar operational criteria for the
disorder. Regardless of the name used,
ADHD/HD is one of the most thoroughly
researched disorders in medicine. It has
been associated with a broad range of
negative outcomes in affected subjects
with a serious financial burden to
families and society, which characterizes it
as a major public health problem.
An understanding of the epidemiological
aspects of ADHD/HD may provide insight
into its distribution and etiology as well as
information for planning the allocation of
funds for mental health services. In past
decades, investigators from all regions of
the world have made substantial efforts to
define the prevalence of the disorder.
Several literature reviews have reported
highly variable rates worldwide, ranging
from as low as 1% to as high as nearly
20% among school-age children. Several
investigators have suggested that
prevalence rates in Europe were
significantly lower than rates found in
North America (2).
Alternative Names
Attention deficit disorder (ADD); ADHD;
Childhood hyperkinesis.
Methods and Materials
The current study was a review survey
which was conducted to evaluate some of
children’s Attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder that is mentioned in science
website by studying articles and books
science texts.
To evaluate the texts, the singular or
combination forms of the following
keywords were used: “ADHD”,
“Prevalence”, “ADD”, “Hyperkinesis” and
“Children”.
To evaluate the electronic Persian
databases the following websites were
searched: Google, Scientific information
database (SID), Ministry of healthcare,
Medical articles library of Iran (medlib.ir),
Iranian research institute for information
(Iran Doc), publication database (Magiran,
Iran medex), and also search in other
electronic databases such as Google
Scholar, Scopus and PubMed. Also, library
search was performed by referring to the
Hoseini et al.
International Journal of Pediatrics , Vol.2, N.4-3, Serial No.12, December 2014 445
journal archives of libraries, and
evaluating the available Persian and
English references such as text books and
also articles of research-scientific and
educational journals, and articles of the
annual seminar of medicine and
psychology.
Results
Symptoms
Symptoms of ADHD fall into three
groups:
Not being able to
focus (inattentiveness).
Being extremely active
(hyperactivity).
Not being able to control
behavior (impulsivity).
Some people with ADHD have mainly
inattentive symptoms. Some have mainly
hyperactive and impulsive symptoms.
Others have a combination of different
symptom types. Those with mostly
inattentive symptoms are sometimes said
to have attention deficit disorder (ADD).
They tend to be less disruptive and are
more likely not to be diagnosed with
ADHD.
Inattentive Symptoms
Fails to give close attention to details or
makes careless mistakes in schoolwork
Has difficulty keeping attention
during tasks or play
Does not seem to listen when
spoken to directly
Does not follow through on
instructions and fails to finish
schoolwork or chores and tasks
Has problems organizing tasks and
activities
Avoids or dislikes tasks that
require sustained mental effort
(such as schoolwork)
Often loses toys, assignments,
pencils, books, or tools needed for
tasks or activities
Is easily distracted
Is often forgetful in daily activities
Hyperactivity Symptoms
Fidgets with hands or feet or
squirms in seat
Leaves seat when remaining seated
is expected
Runs about or climbs in
inappropriate situations
Has problems playing or working
quietly
Is often "on the go," acts as if
"driven by a motor"
Talks excessively
Impulsivity Symptoms
Blurts out answers before questions
have been completed
Has difficulty awaiting turn
Interrupts or intrudes on others (butts into
conversations or games).
Different Symptoms
Boys and girls display very different
ADHD symptoms, and boys are much
more likely to be diagnosed with the
attention disorder. Why? It’s possible the
nature of ADHD symptoms in boys makes
their condition more noticeable than it is in
girls.Boys tend to display externalized
symptoms that most people think of when
they think of ADHD behavior, for
example: impulsivity or “acting
out”hyperactivity, such as running and
hittinglack of focus, including
inattentivenessphysical aggressionADHD
in girls is often easy to overlook because
it’s not “typical” ADHD behavior. The
symptoms aren’t as obvious as they are in
ADHD in Children
International Journal of Pediatrics , Vol.2, N.4-3, Serial No.12, December 2014 446
boys. They can include:being
withdrawnlow self-esteem and
anxietyintellectual impairment and
difficulty with academic
achievementinattentiveness or a tendency
to “daydream”verbal aggression: teasing,
taunting, or name-calling (Figur.1) (5-7).
Fig.1: Different ADHD symptoms in children
Epidemiology
The mean worldwide prevalence of ADHD
is between 5.29% and 7.1% in children
and adolescents (<18 years) (2, 8). The
prevalence of ADHD in Europe was
estimated at just under 5%, however, there
are still few global or European data on
rates of incidence, prevalence or
epidemiology of ADHD(2). Estimation of
the prevalence of ADHD may be
complicated by a range of factors such as
methodological and cultural differences,
and variability in identification and
medical classification systems used for
diagnosis (2).
Prevalence factors ADHD prevalence rates
may vary depending on several factors:
Age – ADHD can affect children from pre-
school age2-4 and increasing recognition
is now given to the fact that ADHD can
extend beyond childhood and adolescence
into adulthood (8, 9-12). Gender – a higher
prevalence is often reported in males
(8,13,14). Subtype of ADHD – combined-
type ADHD is generally considered most
prevalent in all age-groups (15,16). ADHD
is often present alongside comorbidities
such as oppositional defiant disorder
(ODD) and anxiety disorder (9,16-19)
which may further complicate
understanding of true prevalence rates.
Africa
It is estimated that ADHD affects between
5.4-8.7% of children in Africa. Data
quality however is not high(20).
Germany
A 2008 evaluation of the “KiGGS” survey,
monitoring 14,836 girls and boys (age
between 3 to 17 years), showed that 4.8%
of the participants had an ADHD
diagnosis. While 7.9% of all boys had
ADHD, only 1.8% girls had it, too.
Another 4.9% of the participants (6.4%
boys: 3.6% girls) were suspected ADHD
cases, because they showed a rate ≥7 on
the Strengths and difficulties questionnaire
(SDQ) scale. The number of ADHD
diagnoses was 1.5% (2.4%: 0.6%) among
preschool children (3–6 years old), 5.3 %
(8.7% : 1.9%) at age 7–10 years, and had
its peak at 7.1% (11.3% : 3.0%) in the age
group of 11–13 years. Among 14 to 17
years old adolescents the rate was 5.6%
(9.4%: 1.8%) (21).
Spain
Hoseini et al.
International Journal of Pediatrics , Vol.2, N.4-3, Serial No.12, December 2014 447
Rates in Spain are estimated at 6.8%
among people under 18 (22).
United States
In the United States it is diagnosed in 2-16
percent of school children. The rates of
diagnosis and treatment of ADHD are
much higher on the east coast of the
United States than on its west coast. The
frequency of the diagnosis differs between
male children (10%) and female children
(4%) in the United States. This difference
between genders may reflect either a
difference in susceptibility or that females
with ADHD are less likely to be diagnosed
than males.
Boys outnumber girls across all three
subtyping categories, but the exact
magnitude of these differences seems to
depend on both the informant (parent,
teacher, etc.) and the subtype. In two
community-based investigations,
conducted by DuPaul and associates, boys
outnumbered girls by only 2.2:1 in parent-
generated samples and 2.3:1 in teacher-
based input (23-29).
Exams and Tests
If ADHD is suspected, the person should
be evaluated by a health care professional.
There is no test that can make or exclude a
diagnosis of ADHD.
The diagnosis is based on a pattern of the
symptoms listed above. When the person
with suspected ADHD is a child, parents
and teachers are usually involved during
the evaluation process. Most children with
ADHD have at least one other
developmental or mental health problem.
This problem may be a mood, anxiety or
substance use disorder; a learning
disability; or a tic disorder. A doctor can
help determine whether these other
conditions are present.
Treatment
Treating ADHD is a partnership between
the health care provider and the patient. If
the patient is a child, parents and often
teachers are involved. For treatment to
work, it is important to:
Set specific, appropriate goals.
Start medicine and/or talk therapy.
Follow-up regularly with the doctor
to check on goals, results, and any
side effects of medicines. During
these visits, information should be
gathered from the patient and if
relevant, parents and teachers.
If treatment does not seem to work, the
health care provider will likely:
Confirm the person has ADHD.
Check for medical conditions that
can cause similar symptoms.
Make sure the treatment plan is
being followed.
Medicines
Medicine combined with
behavioral treatment often works
best. There are several different
ADHD medicines that may be used
alone or in combination. The health
care provider will decide which
medicine is right based on the
person's symptoms and needs.
Psychostimulants (also known as
stimulants) are the most commonly
used ADHD medicines. Although
these drugs are called stimulants,
they actually have a calming effect
in people with ADHD.
Follow the health care provider's
instructions on how to take ADHD
medicine.
Some ADHD medicines have side
effects. If the person has side
ADHD in Children
International Journal of Pediatrics , Vol.2, N.4-3, Serial No.12, December 2014 448
effects, contact the health care
provider right away. The dosage or
medicine itself may need to be
changed (30-34).
Risk factors for ADHD include:
Blood relatives (such as a parent or
sibling) with ADHD or another mental
health disorder
Exposure to environmental toxins
— such as lead, found mainly in paint
and pipes in older buildings
Maternal drug use, alcohol use or
smoking during pregnancy
Maternal exposure to
environmental poisons — such as
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) —
during pregnancy
Premature birth
Although sugar is a popular suspect in
causing hyperactivity, there's no reliable
proof of this. Many things in childhood
can lead to difficulty sustaining attention,
but that is not the same as ADHD (6, 35).
Prevention
To help reduce your child's risk of ADHD:
During pregnancy, avoid anything that
could harm fetal development. Don't drink
alcohol, smoke cigarettes or use drugs.
Avoid exposure to environmental toxins,
such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Protect your child from exposure to
pollutants and toxins, including cigarette
smoke, agricultural or industrial chemicals,
and lead paint (found in some old
buildings).
Limit screen time. Although still
unproved, it may be prudent for children to
avoid excessive exposure to TV and video
games in the first five years of life.
If your child has ADHD, to help reduce
problems or complications:
Be consistent, set limits and have clear
consequences for your child's behavior.
Put together a daily routine for your child
with clear expectations that include such
things as bedtime, morning time,
mealtime, simple chores and TV.
Avoid multitasking yourself when talking
with your child, make eye contact when
giving instructions, and set aside a few
minutes every day to praise your child.
Work with teachers and caregivers to
identify problems early, to decrease the
impact of the condition on your child's life
(2-9).
Conclusion
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects
millions of children and often persists into
adulthood. ADHD includes a combination
of problems, such as difficulty sustaining
attention, hyperactivity and impulsive
behavior. Children with ADHD also may
struggle with low self-esteem, troubled
relationships and poor performance in
school. Symptoms sometimes lessen with
age. However, some people never
completely outgrow their ADHD
symptoms. But they can learn strategies to
be successful. While treatment won't cure
ADHD, it can help a great deal with
symptoms. Treatment typically involves
medications and behavioral interventions.
Early diagnosis and treatment can make a
big difference in outcome.
Children with ADHD have trouble
functioning at home and in school and
often havedifficulty making and keeping
friends. If left untreated, ADHD may
interfere with school and work, as well as
with social and emotional development.
ADHD is more common in boys, whose
impulsivity and hyperactivity may be
evident. Inattentiveness is a hallmark of
ADHD in girls, but because they aren't
often disruptive in the classroom, they may
not get diagnosed.
Conflict of interest: None
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