Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among primary school children in Cachar, Assam, North-East India

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterised by a pattern of diminished sustained attention and higher levels of impulsivity in a child or adolescent than expected for someone of that age and developmental level. Aims: Our study aims at the following- (i) To identify the prevalence of ADHD among children in primary schools. (ii) To identify the gender difference, age distribution, and distribution of socioeconomic class in the prevalence of ADHD. (iii) To identify the subtypes of ADHD. (iv) To assess the presence of any comorbid illnesses and to assess the association of various comorbidities with the subtypes of ADHD. Materials and methods: Three hundred children aged between six and 11 years were selected from two schools in Cachar district, Assam, India. The presence of ADHD was assessed by using the Conner's Abbreviated Rating Scale (CARS) given to parents and teachers, and then reassessment for typing of ADHD and any comorbidies were done by the Vanderbilt scale. Statistical analysis: Statistical analysis was done by Graph Pad prism for windows version 6.01 and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSSv22). Descriptive statistics was used to summarise the data. Results: The prevalence of ADHD among primary school children was found to be 12.66%. Prevalence was found to be higher among the boys, those belonging to lower middle socioeconomic class, and in the age groups of seven and eight years. Conclusion: The prevalence of ADHD is high among primary school children.