The Natural History 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）自然史的知识有限，因为大多数随访研究都是对多动的白色男孩的临床样本进行的。目前尚不清楚这些数据与社区环境中患有ADHD的儿童的相关性。此外，关于女孩、青少年、非裔美国人或注意力不集中型ADHD儿童的ADHD发展过程的信息很少。 拟议的纵向随访研究将描述ADHD的自然史，在一个基于人群的儿童样本中（448例ADHD，444例对照和134例边缘ADHD病例）。在1998年至2000年期间，作为流行病学研究的一部分，对北卡罗来纳州一个多样化的半农村县的所有小学儿童进行了ADHD筛查。教师完成评定量表，家长接受采访，了解他们孩子的症状，病史和生活事件。 这项拟议中的研究将使用青少年访谈、家长电话访谈、教师评定量表和抽象的学校记录，在8到10年后重新评估这些孩子。这些信息将用于估计ADHD及其类型的持续性并描述其发展过程，估计不良健康行为（吸烟，药物和酒精滥用以及事故）的风险，估计合并症和损伤，并评估在该社区环境中进行的兴奋剂药物治疗是否与改善结果相关。这项研究将增加目前关于ADHD在基于人群的样本中的发展过程和公共卫生影响的知识，该样本包括以前研究不足的人群-即，女孩，非裔美国人，以及患有注意力不集中型多动症的儿童。

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.