Prevalence of Co-morbid Psychiatric Disorders in a Clinic Sample of Children with Attention-deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

Background: Co-morbid psychiatric disorders may mask or be masked by Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), thereby confounding the clinical assessment of children with ADHD.
Aim: To determine the prevalence of co-morbid psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents with ADHD attending an out-patient clinic.
Methods: Sixty-seven children and adolescents with ADHD, attending the Child and Adolescent clinic of the Federal Neuro- Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, were consecutively recruited into the study. The prevalence of psychiatric co-morbidity was determined with the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Parent Scale.
Results: The prevalence of the combined sub-type of ADHD was 6 2 . 7%. The predoinantly Hyperactive-Impulsive and the Inattentive subtypes were prevalent in 20.9% and 16.4% of the sample respectively. About three-quarter (74.6%) of the sample had comorbid psychiatric disorders. The most common co-morbid psychiatric disorder was oppositional defiant disorder (58.2%), followed by anxiety/depression (32.8%) and conduct disorder (26.9%).
Conclusion: Co-morbid psychiatric disorders are common in children with ADHD. There is need for increased clinicians' awareness of these co-morbid disorders, which could become targets for interventions that may reduce the overall morbidity profile of children with ADHD.