The study of prevalence of attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and it's comorbidity with learning disorder (LD) in primary school's students

Attention–deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) does not often appear alone but it has comorbidity with many other disorders. Differential diagnosis among comorbid disorders and other situations like ADHD are some of the problems of epidemiological studies. The aim of this study was investigation of the rate of comorbidity and prevalence of ADHD among elementary students in Hamedan. The method of this study was descriptivesurvey. From 7-12 years old elementary students 1938 people were selected including 988 boys (50/98 percent) and 950 girls (49/02 percent) by the use of random cluster sampling method. Data was collected by the CSI-4 (parents & teachers form), Clock Drawing Test, Iran Kay-Mat, reading diagnostic test. Finally, according to the DSM-IV-TR criterion, clinical interview was done with children. Data analysis was accomplished by t-test, chi-square, and correlation coefficient. Data analysis revealed that the whole prevalence rates of ADHD were 8/62 percent, 12/55 in boys & 4/53 in girls. The prevalence of learning disability (LD) was 7 percent in the whole sample group and 88 students (4/54 percent) had both disorders. The prevalence of ADHD and comorbidity of both disorders in boys was three times more than girls. Differential diagnosis and early psychological and counseling services for ADHD and LD are felt to be necessary.