ADHD symptoms across the lifespan: a comparison of symptoms captured by the Wender and Barkley Scales and DSM-IV criteria in a population-based Swedish sample aged 65 to 80

Abstract

Objective: The aim was to compare different scales capturing ADHD symptoms for older individuals' self-reports about childhood and current ADHD symptomatology. An additional aim was relating these results to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) ADHD criteria.

Method: The 25-item Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) administered in a population-based sample of 1,599 individuals aged 65 to 80. Two subsamples each with 30 individuals were randomly drawn based on their Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) scores, and studied using the Wender Riktad ADHD Symtom Skala (WRASS), interview assessed Barkley Scales, and DSM-IV ADHD criteria.

Results: Higher WURS and WRASS scores were related to higher Barkley Childhood and Current Symptoms Scales Scores. Also, reporting more symptoms on these scales was related to meeting DSM-IV criteria for childhood and current ADHD.

Conclusion: The results support significant persistence of ADHD symptoms when using different scales designed for the capture of childhood and current ADHD symptomatology. Further studies of ADHD in a lifespan perspective are encouraged.

Keywords: ADHD; lifespan; older adult; persistence.