The prevalence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Thailand

บทคัดย่อ

Objective To obtain the estimates of the national prevalence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) of Thai children in the year 2012.  
Materials and methods It was two steps cross sectional survey. The first step was done by using screening test of SNAP-IV Thai version. The second step was to interview by child and adoles-cent psychiatrists using DSM-IV TR criteria. Thai students graded 1-5 in primary school recruited in the study were 7,188 cases. The samples were selected by using three-stages stratified cluster sampling and classified by regions, provinces and school types. The percentage and 95% confidence interval were used to represent the results. 
Results Five hundred and twenty one Thai children subjects were diagnosed with ADHD, making a national prevalence of Thai students equals to 8.1%. The prevalence in boy (12%) was substantially higher than girl (4.2%), therefore the ratio was about 3:1. Considering the difference in regions, southern region was highest at 11.7% and northern region was lowest at 5.1%. The prevalence of subtype in ADHD were mostly of the combined type of 3.8% and hyperactive/impulsive type were lowest equals to 0.9% 
Conclusion The prevalence of ADHD in this study was 8.1%. Mostly, it was in the combined type (3.8%). This information will be useful to implement policy in order to improve health service system, and prevention of ADHD in the country.