Akhil Chopra
BACKGROUND Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a behavioural and neurocognitive condition characterized by developmentally inappropriate and impairing levels of gross motor overactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. ADHD is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in countries like India which leads to increased burden and impairment in children and their family. Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) is a disorder in one or more of the psychological processes involved in understanding and in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell and do mathematical calculations. Studies show SLD in upto 20-30% of children with ADHD. Children with SLD and ADHD have more severe learning problems. MATERIALS AND METHODS Subjects aged 7-16 years diagnosed with ADHD according to SNAP IV scale were included. Full psychiatric evaluation of the subjects was done. Parents were interviewed on first visit and teachers were contacted telephonically & interviewed on next visit. Subjects were then assessed for SLD using DSM-5 criteria. RESULTS Thirty subjects were assessed in this study. The mean age of subjects was 9.73 ± 2.63 with 93.33% males. 10% had a family history of ADHD while 20% had a developmental delay. 33.33% had SLD with Reading Disorder being the most common i.e. 23.33%. 16.66% had a Disorder of Written Expression while 10% had difficulty in Arithmetic. CONCLUSION SLD has been found to co-exist with ADHD and Reading Disorder being the most common. Children who have co-morbid SLD with ADHD have more severe impairments and may need adjunctive interventions.
