Estimations of the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Marabino children

Aims. This study reports the findings of research aimed at determining the rate of prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children of school age. Subjects and methods. The epidemiological study was conducted using a community sample extracted by means of multi-stage stratified sampling according to socio-economic level and schooling and consisted in 1,141 children of both sexes of school age from the city of Maracaibo. The revised Conners scales were used to collect data. Results, The estimated prevalence of ADHD was 7.19% and we also obtained 0.35% for the hyperactive subtype, 1.14% for the disattentional subtype, and 5.70% for the combined subtype. Contrary to what was expected, prevalence was higher for females. It was found that 7.45% of the general sample scored higher on the academic problems scales, whereas for the sample identified as having ADHD, academic problems were 50% and the comorbidity between ADHD and academic problems was confirmed, Conclusions. The estimates for prevalence found in this study are consistent with those reported in the literature, which suggests that ADHD is a valid diagnosis for Marabino children.