Prenatal and Postnatal Characteristics in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

INTRODUCTION: Several factors affecting neurodevelopment in the prenatal period and early stage of life may be related to cognitive, social and behavioral problems that may emerge later. This research was intended to compare a clinical sample diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with a healthy control group by examining pre- and postnatal characteristics, and to investigate potential differentiating risk factors for ADHD.
METHODS: Sixty-four children and adolescents assessed at the Namık Kemal University Medical Faculty Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Diseases clinic and diagnosed with ADHD based on DSM-V diagnostic criteria were compared with 40 healthy controls in terms of sociodemographic, pre- and postnatal characteristics. A sociodemographic data form, the semi-structured Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime version (K-SADS-PL) and the Child Behavior Checklist (4-18 years) (CBCL) were used.
RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were determined between the ADHD and healthy control groups in terms of mother’s gestational age, smoking during pregnancy, perinatal complications, hypoxia and incubator care, birth weight, birth length or duration of receipt of mother’s milk. However, significant differences were determined in terms of parental separation, multivitamin use during pregnancy and development of expressive language skills.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: ADHD is a common disorder with a high socioeconomic burden and is frequently accompanied by comorbid psychiatric diseases. Revelation of environmental etiologial factors will help prevent the emergence of clinical manifestations of ADHD in genetically predisposed individuals.