Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among public basic school pupils in the Asante-Akyem North District Ashanti Region, Ghana

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NOVEMBER, 2015
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Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among public basic school pupils in the Asante Akyem North District of Ashanti – Region, Ghana, using categorically based checklists and DSM – IV – TR ADHD diagnosis criteria as case identification tools. SNAP-IV rating scale checklist was used to screen positive ADHD symptoms among the respondents. Both the teacher and parent of each student answered the rating scale checklist to identify possible cases. Possible cases from the teacher and parent reports were compared and symptoms were matched according to the DSM- IV-TR criteria to determine matched ADHD cases. Schools were put into clusters and simple random sampling was used to select 15 schools. Purposive sampling was used to select 374 respondents for the study, SPSS was used to analyzed the data. Prevalence estimate was then obtained by getting the percentage of research – identified ADHD cases among the total number of pupils assessed. Results revealed that out of 374 pupils in the public basic schools in the Asante – Akyem North district, 21 met the DSM – IV – TR research criteria for ADHD giving a prevalence estimate of 5.6%, and 2:1 ratio of boys and girls respectively. This prevalence estimate falls within the frequently quoted ADHD prevalence rate of 3% to 7%.The study recommended that Guidance and Counselling centers be created in the basic schools to handle ADHD cases, ADHD studies should be included in the curriculum of the colleges of Education and also there should be Educational campaign for parents and teachers to help in the early detection and identification of the disorder.
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A thesis submitted to the Department Of Community Health, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Degree of Master of Science in Disability, Rehabilitation and Development.
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