title: The relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and premature infants in Taiwanese: a case control study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Preterm survivors from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are considered to be at risk for some neurobehavioral disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The current study aimed to explore the relationship between ADHD and premature infants in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 195 children (157 males and 38 females) diagnosed with ADHD based on DSM-IV and aged between 6 to 12 years and a control group of 212 (164 males, 48 females) age- and sex-matched healthy children were enrolled. The ADHD-Rating scale and CGI severity were performed by child psychiatrists. Demographic data of the children, including birth history, perinatal neurological and respiratory problems were collected to facilitate the investigation of whether a correlation exists between ADHD and prematurity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ADHD group had a significantly higher rate of prematurity and significantly higher rate of low birth body weight (defined as <2500 g) than the control group (both P=0.003). Pearson correlation showed a significantly negative correlation between gestational age and ADHD-RS score, inattentive score, hyperactivity and CGI-S score (P=0.004, 0.013, 0.015 and 0.002, respectively). However, only a CGI-S score (P=0.018) showed a significantly correlation between low birth weight and ADHD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Premature infants have significantly more severe symptoms of ADHD at school age and they were highly correlated. Further study is necessary to determine the main effect and pathogenesis of moderate as well as extreme preterm birth on the development of ADHD.
authors: Division of Pediatric Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors: Shih-Ming
authors: SM
authors: Chu
authors: Ming-Horng
authors: MH
authors: Tsai
authors: Fan-Ming
authors: FM
authors: Hwang
authors: Jen-Fu
authors: JF
authors: Hsu
authors: Hsuan Rong
authors: HR
authors: Huang
authors: Yu-Shu
authors: YS
authors: Huang
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013624:Taiwan