ADHD among Indonesian Primary School Students: Measurement and Prevalence

Abstract

In Indonesia, adequate screening instruments for the early detection of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in primary school students is not available prior to the study. We aimed to assess the Indonesian version of the Conners 3 Teacher Rating Scale (Conners 3-T) in an Indonesian setting and assess the prevalence of ADHD in primary school children. The study participants comprised 314 primary school students aged 6-12 years old. Conners 3-T was translated from English to Bahasa Indonesia and back-translated into English. Those students suspected of ADHD were further diagnosed by a senior child psychologist for diagnosis. The results showed that Conners 3-T has a good psychometric quality (a = .96). The quality and accuracy of the screening tool with Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis showed a discrimination value (Area Under Curve) of 75.5%, cut-off value of ≥ 35 with sensitivity value of .67 and specificity of .62. Conclusion: This study indicated that Conners 3T had good sensitivity and specificity as a screening tool. We also found that 45.85% of children were suspected of ADHD symptoms. Further thorough psychological evaluation for diagnostic purposes revealed 8.09% of these children were diagnosed with ADHD. We concluded that the prevalence of children with ADHD in Indonesia is within the common range, and we recommend using the Indonesian Conners 3-T to screen children suspected of ADHD in Indonesia.

Practical clinical guidelines and pharmacological treatment for attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder in Asia

“…The prevalence of ADHD in Indonesian children is 8.09%, which is similar to other countries. 17 To the best of our knowledge, in Indonesia, guidelines for ADHD diagnosis and management were established in 2016 by the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry section of the Indonesian Psychiatric Association. 18 However, this set of guidelines is not available on the internet.…”