STUDY ON THE INTELLECTUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER AT THEIR FIRST EVALUATION AT DA NANG PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL
Keywords:
Intellectual characteristics, ADHD, Da Nang Psychiatric HospitalAbstract
Objectives: To describe the intellectual characteristics of primary school-aged children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) presenting for their first psychiatric evaluation at Da Nang Psychiatric Hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 165 primary school-aged children who presented for their first clinical evaluation at Da Nang Psychiatric Hospital and were diagnosed with ADHD between March 2022 and September 2022. ADHD symptoms were assessed using the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale (VADRS). Intellectual functioning was evaluated using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Results: Among the 165 children diagnosed with ADHD, 83% were male and 17% were female. The largest age group was 7-year-olds (32.7%). WISC-IV results indicated that the majority of participants demonstrated a low mean Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) score (71.10 ± 14.11). The Processing Speed Index (PSI) yielded the highest mean score (94.72 ± 18.35). In contrast, the mean scores for the Perceptual Reasoning Index (PRI), Working Memory Index (WMI), and Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI) were 79.74 ± 14.00, 70.54 ± 13.26, and 65.07 ± 11.67, respectively. Conclusions: In this study, children with ADHD demonstrated intellectual functioning predominantly within the average to below-average range across cognitive domains, with only a small proportion achieving high intellectual performance. These findings underscore the need for individualized educational programs tailored to the cognitive profiles of children with ADHD.
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