Prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) in School Children in Al-Qaser District Jordan

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), its subtypes, its effects on learning and some of its associations in Al-Qaser district in South Jordan.Design: School-based screening study.Study Population: All school children aged 6-12 years (both males and females) in Al-Qaser district in South Jordan were screened.Methods: The inclusion criteria comprised hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattention, learning difficulties, and failure in school exams. The Arabic version of the fourth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) for the diagnosis and classification of ADHD questionnaire was applied to all the students included in the study.Results: A total of 4374 students were screened, out of which 273 cases were positive, showing a prevalence of 6.24%. Furthermore, the prevalence was 9% among school boys and 3.7% among school girls, with a male to female ratio of 2.4:1. Learning difficulties were as follows: 59.3% for mathematics and 53.1% for language, and the consanguinity was observed in 34.8% of the cases.Conclusions: Prevalence of ADHD in Jordan was found to be within the international values, and the male to female ratios was observed to be high in the whole group as well as in all the subtypes. Furthermore, association with learning difficulties was observed to be very strong and the incidence of consanguinity was found to be very high.