Table 3.
Distributions and associations (Odds-Ratios) of childhood ADHD symptom profiles and severity with current DSM-IV adult ADHD among respondents who met criteria for ADHD in childhood pooled across the ten surveys (n = 629)
| Current ADHD among childhood cases |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distribution1 | Prevalence2 | |||||
| % | (SE)3 | % | (SE)3 | OR4 | (95% CI)4 | |
| I. Childhood Symptom Profiles5 | ||||||
| Inattentive (IN) | 35.3 | (2.6) | 48.7 | (6.1) | 2.7* | (1.3-5.6) |
| Impulsive-hyperactive (IH) | 23.0 | (2.1) | 29.0 | (5.7) | 1.0 | -- |
| Inattentive + Sub IH | 26.5 | (2.7) | 58.3 | (10.5) | 5.1* | (1.8-14.5) |
| Impulsive-hyperactive + Sub IN | 6.4 | (1.3) | 50.7 | (10.3) | 1.7 | (0.6-4.6) |
| IN + IH | 8.8 | (1.6) | 84.5 | (5.3) | 12.4* | (4.5-34.5) |
| χ246 | 27.7* | |||||
| II. Childhood symptom severity7 | ||||||
| High | 18.7 | (1.9) | 62.8 | (7.4) | 2.0* | (1.1-3.5) |
| Low | 81.3 | (1.9) | 47.0 | (4.9) | 1.0 | -- |
| χ21 | 5.7* | |||||
| III. Childhood treatment of ADHD8 | ||||||
| Yes | 10.4 | (1.8) | 47.2 | (8.1) | 0.9 | (0.4 - 2.0) |
| No | 89.6 | (1.8) | 50.3 | (5.1) | 1.0 | -- |
| χ21 | 0.0 | |||||
Significant at the .05 level, two-sided test
Distribution: The conditional prevalence of the childhood ADHD symptom profile or severity category described in the row among respondents with current adult ADHD. For example, 35.3% of respondents with current adult ADHD had a purely inattentive type of ADHD as children.
Prevalence: The conditional prevalence of current adult ADHD among respondents with a history of childhood ADHD in the sub-sample defined by the childhood symptom profile or severity category in the row. For example, 48.7% of the childhood cases with an inattentive type of ADHD continued to have adult ADHD at the time of interview.
SE: Standard error of the prevalence estimate
OR: Odds-ratio; CI: Confidence interval.
Inattentive (IN): Respondents who had 6-9 childhood symptoms of inattentiveness, but no symptoms of impulsivity-hyperactivity; Impulsive-hyperactive (IH): Respondents who had 6-9 childhood symptoms of impulsivity-hyperactivity, but no symptoms of inattentiveness; Inattentive + Sub (sub-threshold) IH: Respondents who had 6-9 childhood symptoms of inattentiveness and 1-5 symptoms of impulsivity-hyperactivity; Impulsive-hyperactive + Sub (sub-threshold) IN: Respondents who had 6-9 childhood symptoms of impulsivity-hyperactivity and 1-5 symptoms of inattentiveness; IN + IH: Respondents who had 6-9 childhood symptoms of inattentiveness and 6-9 symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity. The ORs are based on a pooled within-country logistic regression equation that controlled for country, age and gender.
The 4 degree of freedom χ2 evaluates the joint significance of the different childhood ADHD symptom profiles in predicting adult persistence.
High severity is defined as reportedly having childhood impairment in all four of the domains assessed in the survey (school, home, work, and relationships). The OR is based on a pooled within-country logistic regression equation that controlled for country, age and gender.
The OR is based on a pooled within-country logistic regression equation that controlled for childhood symptom profile and severity as well as for country, age and gender.