Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and behavioural planning deficiencies in South African primary school children

BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is defined as a cognitive or behavioural developmental disorder. Inattentiveness, overactivity and impulsivity are regarded as the main clinical symptoms of ADHD. These symptoms may occur together or separately resulting in three recognised presentations: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive–impulsive and combined presentations. AIM: This study investigated deficiencies in behavioural planning in South African primary school children with and without ADHD. SETTING: Tzaneen area in Limpopo province, South Africa. METHODS: A total of 156 children (78 with ADHD and 78 matched controls without ADHD) of both genders, who were medication naïve and aged 6–15 years, participated in the study. The performance of the two groups was compared on a test of planning and problem-solving, the Tower of London (ToL) task. The results were analysed as a function of gender, age and ADHD presentation. RESULTS: Children with ADHD especially ADHD-PI and ADHD-C used significantly more moves and took a longer time to complete the task than the controls (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the number of moves and time taken by the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive presentations of ADHD when compared to the controls. Gender and age did not influence the performance. CONCLUSION: The results showed that children with ADHD showed significantly more deficits mainly the ADHD-PI and ADHD-C presentations, which indicates that inattention is mainly responsible for deficiencies in behaviour planning. The ADHD-HI presentations and the control group were not affected.