Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a survey on prevalence rate among male subjects in elementary school (7 to 9 years old) in Iran.
OBJECTIVE
Because there have been a few studies on the prevalence of ADHD in Iran, assessment of its prevalence seems to have a great impact on the physicians approach toward its diagnosis and management.


METHODS
This study listed all the schools in Mashhad and chose 12, including 24 classes and 714 students by stratified cluster sampling. A total of 72 children were selected randomly for pilot study. Their parents and teachers filled the 10-item Conners' questionnaire for ADHD separately. Clinical interview was based on DSM-IV criteria. Students with the total scores higher than the cut-off point 23 were selected for interview.


RESULTS
A total of 109 students out of 714 schoolboys had ADHD (15.27% +/- 2.64%). The subgroups' prevalence rates were as follows: attention deficit (AD) = 4.62%, hyperactive impulsive (HI) = 5.32%, and combined type (CT) = 5.32%.


CONCLUSIONS
Frequency of ADHD among Iranian schoolboys is more than that in many countries.
Talaei
Ali
A
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran. talaeia@mums.ac.ir
Mokhber
Naghmeh
N
Abdollahian
Ebrahim
E
Bordbar
Mohammad Reza Fayyazi
MR
Salari
Elham
E
D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005178:Faculty; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires