Role of school teachers in identifying attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among primary school children in Mansoura, Egypt.
There is a knowledge gap in primary school teachers that affects their ability to detect attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study measured primary school teachers' knowledge about ADHD, and implemented a training programme to improve early detection of ADHD. The prevalence and risk factors of ADHD were also studied. The training programme was implemented through a 2-day workshop for 39 primary school teachers who completed a validated Arabic version of the ADHD Rating Scale for 873 primary school children. The children's parents completed the questionnaire to explore ADHD risk factors. The teachers' pre-training knowledge scores of ADHD ranged from 17.9 to 46.2%. Post-training, their scores improved significantly to 69.2-94.9%. Prevalence rate of ADHD was 12.60%. On logistic regression, independent predictors of ADHD were female gender, unemployed fathers and rural residence. In conclusion, ADHD is a significant health problem among primary school children in Mansoura, Egypt. Efforts should be made to improve teachers' knowledge about ADHD and control modifiable risk factors.
Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; Family and Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
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Awadalla
Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
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Ali
Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
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Elshaer
Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt.
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Eissa
D000328:Adult; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000070777:School Teachers; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires