Investigation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among the ethnic Han and Kazakh students from Kuntun City of Xinjiang

Abstract:

Objective To study the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) among the ethnic Han and Kazakh students in Kuntun City, Xinjiang. Methods A total of 1 244 students were randomly selected using the epidemiological whole sampling method. Nine hundred and twenty three were Hans from two elementary and two secondary schools and 321 were Kazakhs from two elementary and one secondary schools of Kuntun City. Conners Parents Symptom Questionnaire and Conners Teacher Rating Scale were employed to investigate the prevalence of ADHD. Results The prevalence of ADHD in ethnic Han and Kazakh students was 13% and 10%, respectively and there was no significant difference between them. Boys demonstrated a significantly higher prevalence of ADHD than girls in both ethnic Hans and Kazakhs (P<0.01). The prevalence of ADHD decreased with age in Han students, but increased in the Kazakhs. Conclusions The prevalence of ADHD is not related to ethnicity, but the age of onset of ADHD is different between the Han and Kazakh students.