Psychiatric comorbidity differences in clinic-referred children and adolescents with ADHD according to the subtypes and gender

Abstract

There are controversial or even opposite findings about gender and prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders among different subtypes of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The participants were children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Gender, subtype of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and the interaction effects were evaluated by logistic regression. Of the 171 children, 73 (42.7%) were of the combined subtype, 45 (26.3%) inattentive, and 52 (31.0%) were hyperactive/impulsive. The prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder subtypes was not different between genders. There was no significant difference of gender by subtype interaction effects on the children's age. This study does not provide evidence supporting attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder subtypes as distinct clinical entities in terms of comorbidity. Association of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder subtypes and psychiatric disorders in Iran is somehow different from that in some studies conducted in the Western culture. It is more similar to that of other Asian countries.