The Natural Histroy of ADHD in a Population-Based Sample

描述(由申请人提供)：关于注意力缺陷/多动障碍(ADHD)自然病史的知识有限，因为大多数后续研究都是在多动的白人男孩的临床样本上进行的。目前还不清楚这些数据与社区环境中被确认为ADHD的儿童有多大的相关性。此外，关于女孩、青少年、非裔美国人或注意力不集中的ADHD儿童的发展过程的信息很少。 拟议的纵向跟踪研究将描述以人群为基础的儿童样本中ADHD的自然病史(448名ADHD患者、444名对照组和134名临界性ADHD病例)。1998年至2000年间，作为流行病学研究的一部分，北卡罗来纳州一个多样化的半农村县的所有小学生都接受了ADHD筛查。教师完成了评分表，并就孩子的症状、病史和生活事件采访了父母。 这项拟议的研究将在8到10年后使用青少年面对面访谈、家长电话访谈、教师评分表和摘要学校记录来重新评估这些儿童作为青少年。这些信息将被用于评估ADHD的持久性和描述ADHD的发展过程及其类型，评估不良健康行为(吸烟、药物和酒精滥用以及事故)的风险，估计共病和损害，并评估在这个社区环境中使用的刺激性药物治疗是否与改善结果相关。这项研究将在一个以人群为基础的样本中增加关于ADHD发展历程和公共健康影响的现有知识，该样本包括以前研究不足的人群--即女孩、非裔美国人和注意力不集中类型的ADHD儿童。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Knowledge about the natural history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is limited because most follow-up studies have been conducted on clinic samples of hyperactive, white, boys. It is not clear how relevant these data are for children identified with ADHD in community settings. In addition, little information is available about the developmental course of ADHD in girls, adolescents, African-Americans, or children with the Inattentive type of ADHD. The proposed longitudinal follow-up study will describe the natural history of ADHD in a population-based sample of children (448 with ADHD, 444 controls, and 134 borderline ADHD cases.) Between 1998 and 2000, all the elementary school children in a diverse semi-rural North Carolina County were screened for ADHD as part of an epidemiologic study. Teachers completed rating scales and parents were interviewed about their child's symptoms, medical history and life events. The proposed study will re-evaluate these same children eight to ten years later as adolescents using in-person youth interviews, parent telephone interviews, teacher rating scales, and abstracted school records. This information will be used to estimate the persistence and describe the developmental course of ADHD and its types, to estimate the risk of adverse health behaviors (smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, and accidents), to estimate comorbidity and impairment, and to evaluate whether stimulant medication treatment, as it is being administered in this community setting, is associated with improved outcomes. This study will add to current knowledge about the developmental course and public health impact of ADHD in a population based sample that includes previously under-studied populations - i.e., girls, African Americans, and children with the Inattentive Type of ADHD.