Department of Neurology, King Fahd Hospital of the University, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia.
Ann Afr Med. 2023 Oct-Dec;22(4):544-548. doi: 10.4103/aam.aam_163_22.
Studying mental disorders in children is significantly important due to the huge suffering of educational and psychosocial impairments in adult life. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is considered the most common mental disorder in children, especially in early school-aged children. It manifests in about 8%-12% of children in the world. In Saudi Arabia, it affects 4%-12% of children.
The study aimed to count the number of undiagnosed ADHD cases and the associated risk factors in Eastern Province in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
A cross-sectional study was performed among girls' and boys' children aged 6-10 years old in Eastern Province in KSA with a random selection of parents. Sample size is equal to 1658. The assessment was done by an online questionnaire filled it by parents using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition diagnostic criteria and Connor's scale of ADHD excluding any developmental or mental disorder at the beginning of the questionnaire.
After excluding the participants who were diagnosed with behavioral and growth developmental disorder, the remaining 1430 have been screened for ADHD based on Connor's scale. 185 of a child out of 1430 were suggested to have ADHD, of which 10 out of them show the signs of ADHD, 76 of them have moderately severe ADHD, and 99 out of them have atypical or severe ADHD based on Connor's scale of ADHD. The study shows that there is a significant relationship between the positive screening of ADHD and gender males (71.35%), females (28.64%), family history (20.5%), nervous system diseases (4.32%), brain damage from trauma (9.72%), smoking habit of the mother (8.64%), smoking during pregnancy (3.78%), mother exposure to second-hand smoking (42.16%), child exposure to a toxic substance like lead during the early life (1.62%), and the preterm labor (15.13%). However, the study shows there is no significant relationship between the positive screening of ADHD with age, drinking alcohol, and central nervous system infection.
The prevalence of undiagnosed ADHD is slightly high. Also, it has many causes of ADHD including gender, smoking, parental psychiatric disorders, and obstetric and pregnancy problems.
研究儿童精神障碍具有重要意义，因为其会导致儿童在成年后出现严重的教育和社会心理障碍。注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）被认为是儿童中最常见的精神障碍，尤其是在学龄早期儿童中。全世界约有 8%-12%的儿童患有这种疾病，在沙特阿拉伯，约有 4%-12%的儿童患有这种疾病。
本研究旨在统计沙特阿拉伯东部省份未被诊断出的 ADHD 病例数量及其相关危险因素。
采用横断面研究方法，在沙特阿拉伯东部省份随机选择 6-10 岁儿童的父母进行研究。样本量为 1658 名。使用在线问卷评估父母，问卷基于《精神障碍诊断与统计手册》第五版的诊断标准和 Connor 的 ADHD 量表，排除问卷开始时任何发育或精神障碍。
在排除了被诊断为行为和生长发育障碍的参与者后，根据 Connor 的量表，对其余 1430 名参与者进行了 ADHD 筛查。在 1430 名儿童中，有 185 名儿童被认为患有 ADHD，其中 10 名儿童表现出 ADHD 迹象，76 名儿童有中度严重 ADHD，99 名儿童有非典型或严重 ADHD。研究表明，ADHD 的阳性筛查与性别（男性占 71.35%，女性占 28.64%）、家族史（20.5%）、神经系统疾病（4.32%）、创伤性脑损伤（9.72%）、母亲吸烟习惯（8.64%）、孕期吸烟（3.78%）、母亲接触二手烟（42.16%）、儿童在早期生活中接触有毒物质（如铅）（1.62%）以及早产（15.13%）显著相关。然而，研究表明，ADHD 的阳性筛查与年龄、饮酒、中枢神经系统感染无显著关系。
未确诊的 ADHD 患病率略高。此外，导致 ADHD 的原因有很多，包括性别、吸烟、父母的精神障碍以及产科和妊娠问题。
