title: The associations between ADHD and asthma in Korean children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the most common neuropsychiatric disorder in school children, and childhood allergic disease by evaluating their respective prevalence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were comprised of first and second grade students in twenty two elementary schools in a city in the Republic of Korea. The mode of measurement for ADHD was based on DSM-IV from clinical interviews conducted by child psychiatrists. Along with the diagnostic interviews, we also used the epidemiological questionnaires, Computerized Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnostic System, the abbreviated Conner's Parent Rating Scale (CPRS), and DuPaul's ADHD Rating Scales. Allergic conditions, such as asthma, have been separately evaluated based on the questionnaire items whose validity and reliability were proved by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC). All questionnaires were completed by the subjects' parents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The lifetime prevalence rate of asthma in ADHD patients was 36.6%, compared to a prevalence of 24.3% in control subjects. The lifetime prevalence rate of allergic rhinitis in ADHD patients was 59.0%, compared to a prevalence of 47.0% in control subjects. Statistically significant difference has been found between the two groups. In the logistic regression model of the ADHD and the control group, the relative risk of asthma was 1.60 times higher (confidence interval 1.301-1.964), the relative risk of allergic rhinitis was 1.38 times higher (confidence interval 1.124-1.681), which showed statistical significance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study suggest significant association between ADHD and childhood asthma and allergic rhinitis. Therefore, appropriate evaluation and treatment are needed for asthmatic children with attention-deficit symptoms, or allergic rhinitis with ADHD. Besides, further research is needed to determine the etiological approach towards ADHD, asthma, and allergic rhinitis.
authors.forename: Ho Jang
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Mi Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.forename: Seung Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Ki Chung
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: Jong-Han
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: June
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sakong
authors.forename: Chul-Gab
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong-Muk
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Soo Jong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Hwan Il
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Center, Dankook University Hospital, Cheonan, Korea. paperose@dku.edu.
authors.forename: Myung Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D056910:Republic of Korea; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic; D012306:Risk; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires