Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-v1.1) symptom checklist in patients with substance use disorders.

AIM Diagnosing attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in patients with substance use disorder (SUD) is a complicated process in which a screening tool may be useful. We analyzed the ASRS-v1.1 validity in patients with SUD, considering the addiction severity and co-morbidity with depressive disorders, antisocial and borderline personality. METHODS Eighty outpatients with SUD were evaluated with the following instruments: ASRS-v1.1, CAAD-II, EuropASI, SCID-I, SCID-II. A factor analysis was performed with Varimax rotation to determine the structure of the intercorrelations among the items. Accuracy of ASRS-v1.1 was also analyzed. RESULTS The diagnostic interview CAADID used as a gold standard indicated that 20% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11-29) meet the criteria for ADHD. The ASRSv1.1 factor structure is marked by two factors related to inattention and hyperactivity / impulsivity that account for 67.7% of the variance. ASRS-v1.1, with a 4 cut-off, showed an 87.5% sensitivity and 68.6% specificity. CONCLUSIONS ASRS-v1.1 is a simple screening tool that is useful and has acceptable validity for the identification of ADHD among addicted patients.