Medical Journal of The Islamic Republic of Iran (MJIRI)

 Background: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the Persian version of the Sustained Auditory Attention Capacity Test in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

 Methods: The Persian version of the Sustained Auditory Attention Capacity Test was constructed to assess sustained auditory attention using the method provided by Feniman and colleagues (2007). In this test, comments were provided to assess the child’s attentional deficit by determining inattention and impulsiveness error, the total scores of the sustained auditory attention capacity test and attention span reduction index. In the present study for determining the validity and reliability of in both Rey Auditory Verbal Learning test and the Persian version of the Sustained Auditory Attention Capacity Test (SAACT), 46 normal children and 41 children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD), all right-handed and aged between 7 and 11 of both genders, were evaluated.

 Results: In determining convergent validity, a negative significant correlation was found between the three parts of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning test (first, fifth, and immediate recall) and all indicators of the SAACT except attention span reduction. By comparing the test scores between the normal and ADHD groups, discriminant validity analysis showed significant differences in all indicators of the test except for attention span reduction (p< 0.001).

 Conclusion: The Persian version of the Sustained Auditory Attention Capacity test has good validity and reliability, that matches other reliable tests, and it can be used for the identification of children with attention deficits and if they suspected to have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

  Background :Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common childhood neurological disorder. This disorder is more prevalent in some chronic diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate ADHD in children with early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and to compare it with healthy children.

  Methods : Seventy five 5-16-year-old children with early stages of CKD (stage 1, 2 and 3) and 75 healthy children without CKD were included in this case – control study as case and control groups, respectively. The participants were selected from those children who were referred to the pediatric clinic of Amir Kabir Hospital of Arak (Iran) in the form of simple probability and based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. ADHD was diagnosed using Conner's Parent Rating Scale – 48 (CPRS-48) and DSM-IV criteria and was confirmed by a psychologist consultant. Data were analyzed by Binomial test in SPSS18.

  Results : ADHD inattentive type was observed in 8 cases (10.6%) with CKD and 2 controls (2.6%) (p= 0.109). Moreover, in the case and control groups, 7 (9.3%) and 6 (8%) children were affected by ADHD hyperactive-impulsive type (p= 0.997), and 9 (12%) and 12 (16%) children were affected by ADHD mixed type (p= 0.664), respectively.

  Conclusion : No differences were found between the prevalence of ADHD in the children with early stages of CKD and the control group. However, due to the importance of the relationships between different types of psychiatric disorders and CKD and lack of enough evidence concerning the relationship between ADHD and different stages of CKD in children, conducting further studies in this field is recommended.