Symptom prevalence of ADHD and ODD in a pediatric population in Argentina.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence of DSM III-R symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in an outpatient pediatric population; to compare oppositional behavior and grade retention rates; and to establish local means and standard deviations (SD) for the ADHD rating scale.


METHODS
300 children (149m, 151f; 6 to12 yrs) were evaluated for ADHD and ODD symptoms with the DuPaul and an author-designed rating scale, respectively. Scores 1.5 SD above the mean were considered positive for each disorder.


RESULTS
A total of 27 subjects (13m, 14f), 9%, had positive scores consistent with ADHD. These children had an oppositional behavior rate of 33.3% and a grade retention rate of 30.7%. Those who did not have positive scores for ADHD had a rate of 5.5% and 7.3%, respectively. The mean scores for the boys on the ADHD rating scale was 17.1 (SD = 8.6); the girls had a mean of 14.7 (SD = 7.3).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence rates in our study are similar to those found in other countries.
Michanie
Claudio
C
Centro de Educación Médica e Investigaciones Clínicas (CEMIC), Buenos Aires, Argentina. cmichanie@ciudad.com.ar
Kunst
Gabriel
G
Margulies
Daniel S
DS
Yakhkind
Aleksandra
A
D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D019958:Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014477:Underachievement