Screening and diagnostic utility of self-report attention deficit hyperactivity disorder scales in adults
Section snippets
Participants
Eighty-two patients evaluated during 1997 to 1999 in an adult ADHD specialty clinic provided data for this study. These patients presented for evaluation based on the reputation of the clinic in the Seattle area as a university-affiliated clinic that would provide a thorough, several-hour evaluation based on self-report, review of corroborating documents (e.g., grade school report cards, performance evaluations), and interview of parents or other family members. Some patients presented to our
Results
Based on the diagnostic interview, 38 patients were identified with ADHD, and 44 received a non-ADHD principal diagnosis. Patients with ADHD were significantly younger than non-ADHD patients [34.2 v 40.3 years; t(80) = 2.80, P < .01]. Most of the patients were white, and this did not differ by diagnosis (ADHD 97.4%, non-ADHD 95.5%). A higher proportion of the non-ADHD group was male (63.6%) than the ADHD group (55.3%), but this was not a statistically significant difference. The principal
Discussion
The relatively recent recognition of ADHD as a true syndrome in adults has left researchers and clinicians eager for valid and reliable screening measures and tools to aid in the diagnosis of this population. A number of such measures have been published both commercially and in the research literature. Our own clinical experience has taught us that many adults have been told that they have ADHD based largely (and sometimes solely) on their responses to self-report indices of symptoms. Our
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