ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVE DISORDERS (ADHD) SYMPTOMS AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL CHILDREN OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS, KARACHI PAKISTAN

Abstract

The aim of the study is to identify the frequency of   ADHD symptoms and its association with Academic Performance among secondary school children of Private Schools, Karachi, Pakistan. Analytical cross sectional study was conducted among 280 students who are at their adolescence, duration of the study were 3months. Participants with age range 13-16years were selected. Data were collected using Wander Utha Rating scale (WURS). SPSS software version16.0 was used to assess frequency & % for  categorical and qualitative variables. Chi square test was used to find out the association of ADHD Symptoms with the risk factors such as Gender, Class/Grade, Birth order, Previous Grade/Academic Performance, Parent smoking history and No. of siblings. Out of 280 respondents, 152 (54.3%) were male and 128 (45.7%) were female. Majority of the students (n=160, 57%) were 14 and 15 years of age..Findings of the study revealed academic performance and parents smoking history shows significant association with the presence of ADHD Symptoms by showing P-value 0.015 and 0.017 respectively. Findings of the study conclude that in private schools of Karachi Pakistan, most significant association with the prevalence of ADHD symptoms are smoking history of parents and the students’ academic performance.