Abstract

Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that occurring in children around the world including Iraq. Objectives: To measure the prevalence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder among primary school children in Al-Najaf city center and its association with demographic factors for the child and family. Methodology: Across sectional study targeting primary school children (6-14) year old private and governorate schools. from the 1st of January to31 December 2023.. Forty primary schools were selected by simple random sampling which represented 10% of all schools.Two hundred primary school-age children (6-14years) were selected (100 males and 100 females) using a systematic random sampling technique among all students from grades 1 to 6, choosing five students from each school.A structured questionnaire was used to assess the behavior of school children filled out by both teachers and parents after obtaining their verbal consent. This questionnaire was designed according to the formula of diagnostic criteria of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders used by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 26, P value ≤ 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The overall prevalence of ADHD (combined type) among school children was 20.5%.While the prevalence of hyperactivity disorder alone was (28.5%) and the prevalence of Attention deficit disorder alone was (28.5%). ADHD is significantly more prevalent among male (27%)children than female (14%). There is a significant association between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and unemployed father(P=0.02), father education(illiterate)(p=0.03), parents separation (P=0.0001), father smoking(P=0.004) and positive family history of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (P=0.0001). Also, there is a significant association between Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and child order(first rank) in the family(P=0.000) bed wetting (P=0.006). Conclusion:  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is an important health problem and highly prevalent among pupils in AL- Najaf city