BACKGROUND

Well-trained primary school teachers should be competent in recognizing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in students and be able to assist in providing care and support.

OBJECTIVES

This study intends to assess primary school teachers' knowledge of ADHD and evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term educational intervention.  Methods: A quasi-experimental quantitative study was conducted among primary school teachers in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. A two-hour educational intervention was designed and run in six schools using a specific knowledge rating scale before and after the application of the intervention.  Results: A total of 150 primary school teachers were included in this study, of which 64% were males, 51.3% were in the age group of 40-49 years, and 28% had teaching experience of more than 20 years. Regarding ADHD knowledge, the pre-intervention knowledge of the general criteria, symptoms and diagnosis, and treatment was considered adequate in 3.3%, 16.7%, and 2.7% of the participants, respectively, which improved post-intervention to 22%, 54.7%, and 19.3%, respectively. There was a significant association between the pre-intervention knowledge of the general criteria and the gender and between the knowledge of symptoms and diagnosis and the attendance of ADHD workshop by the participants. Also, there was a significant association between the participants' age, residence experience, attendance of ADHD workshops, and the general criteria and treatment domains.

CONCLUSIONS

Most primary school teachers in Jazan have insufficient knowledge of ADHD. Using a knowledge improvement intervention can substantially improve the teachers' knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate thoughtful knowledge improvement programs into the educational curricula for teachers.