Thyroid function in a population of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of thyroid hormone abnormalities and generalized resistance to thyroid hormone in a population of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as compared to reference ranges determined from a control population and hence to determine if routine thyroid hormone screening in children with non-familial ADHD is indicated.


METHODS
Children attending the State Child Development Centre in Perth, Western Australia with ADHD, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (fourth edition) provided the study population. The control population consisted of 353 normal children with a history of allergy in whom radioallergosorbent (RAST) testing was being performed.


RESULTS
The prevalence of thyroid hormone abnormalities in the study population was 2.3% (95% CI 0.6%, 5.7%). There were no cases of generalized resistance to thyroid hormone. The prevalence of thyroid hormone abnormalities in the general population of children and adolescents has been reported to vary between 1 and 3.7%.


CONCLUSIONS
Routine thyroid hormone screening is not indicated in children with non-familial ADHD.
Valentine
J
J
Department of Developmental and Rehabilitation Medicine, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Australia.
Rossi
E
E
O'Leary
P
P
Parry
T S
TS
Kurinczuk
J J
JJ
Sly
P
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D014904:Western Australia
D013963:Thyroid Hormones