[New Ways of Diagnosing ADHD in Adults]

Abstract

Objective Diagnosing Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in adults requires that ADHD has already been present in childhood. However, recall of ADHD-symptoms in childhood is fallible, for example influenced by mood. Furthermore, diagnostics need a procedure to handle oblivion and judgment biases. The Essen-Interview-for-school-days-related-biography (EIS-B) addresses these problems and offers a tool for retrospectively diagnosing childhood ADHD in adults. Method 36 patients with ADHD, 27 patients with depression or adjustment disorders and 39 healthy controls were included in the pilot study. All participants were comparable regarding age and gender. Results Internal consistency varied between α = 0.58 and α = 0.97, split-half-reliability was r = 0.98, inter-rater-reliability yielded κ = 0.66. Retest-reliability varied between r = 0.40 and r = 0.88. Sensitivity was 82 %. Specificity yielded 100 %. Discussion The results indicate that EIS-B is a reliable and valid interview to retrospectively elucidate symptoms of childhood ADHD in adult patients. Further studies should aim for replication of our results using a larger sample size.