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Introduction: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurobehavioral disorder among school children. It may persist into adulthood and affect performance in the academic, social and familial spheres. The prevalence rate is a controversial matter.
Objective: The aim of this research was to determinate the prevalence of ADHD and its distribution according to subtypes, gender and age in school children from Sfax, Tunisia.
Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out from first April 2008 to first October 2008. 513 pupils, 240 boys and 273 girls, aged between 6 and 12 years, from primary arbitrarily chosen schools from Sfax were subject to this study.
Measurements were carried out in two steps: parents and teachers of each child filled in separately Conners questionnaire, then children with a score in subscales in attention, hyperactivity impulsivity higher than 70 were selected for psychiatric interview that was intended to confirm or to invalidate the ADHD diagnosis. The diagnoses were made according to DSM-IV-TR.
Results: We have noticed that 109 pupils having at least one pathological score of the Conners questionnaire. After interviewing these 109 pupils, the results have shown that 51 among them fulfilled criteria of ADHD. Prevalence of ADHD was found to be 9.94%. The combined subtype was the most frequent with 5.26% then inattention predominantly subtype in 2.7% of cases and hyperactivity impulsivity predominantly subtype in 1.94% of cases. Higher prevalence was fond among boys. ADHD tends to decrease with age with a higher prevalence in the age bracket 7- 8ans. The inattentive subtype was greater in girls and the hyperactive subtype was more prevalent among boys.
Conclusions: Prevalence of ADHD in the school population in Sfax is high. The most subtype was the combined type in boys and inattentive predominantly subtype in girls. Programs must be developed for the detection of this problem and subsequent intervention in the school population.