Prevalence of Hyperactivity in Elementary School Children in Saghez City, 2012

Background: Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder is a common disorder that causes serious problems in elementary school and it is also implicated in crime statistics, aggression and other behavioral problems in society. This study estimated the prevalence of hyperactivity in elementary school children in Saghez City, Iran, at the age of 6 – 11 years. Methods: In this study, 760 students were selected from elementary school boys and girls equally, from Saghez. A type of cross-sectional multi-stage random sampling method was used, and from the elementary school student’s academic year, 12 to 2011 were selected. First, variables such as; age, gender, grade level, school status, Children age, employment, parents’ level of education, family size, child’s birth order, and parental psychiatric history were collected. Second, the teacher and parent questionnaire, "ADHD rating scale-IV," which consisted of two parts, was used. For the data collection, a copy of the letter was given to the teacher to complete and the questionnaires delivered. After completion, collected data was analyzed using the SPSS, 11.5 software. Results: The results showed that the prevalence of ADHD in the children was 34.4%, and by gender: girls 34.2% and boys 34.6%. Higher numbers of hyperactivity disorders were found in families whose parents had lower levels of education. Hyperactivity was observed to be higher in the third and fourth children who were born into larger families, but there was no significant correlation found between the prevalence of hyperactivity and the number of family members (p = 0.16). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the development of training programs for disease prevention and managing hyperactivity disorder, in families with low socio-economic should be a priority.