Evaluation of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Risk Factors

Abstract

Background. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders among children. The aim of this study was to evaluate risk factors for ADHD in children. Method. In this case-control study, 404 children between 4 and 11 years old were selected by cluster sampling method from preschool children (208 patients as cases and 196 controls). All the participants were interviewed by a child and adolescent psychiatrist to survey risk factors of ADHD. Results. Among cases, 59.3% of children were boys and 38.4% were girls, which is different to that in control group with 40.7% boys and 61.6% girls. The chi-square showed statistically significance (P value < 0.0001). The other significant factors by chi-square were fathers' somatic or psychiatric disease (P value < 0.0001), history of trauma and accident during pregnancy (P value = 0.039), abortion proceeds (P value < 0.0001), unintended pregnancy (P value < 0.0001), and history of head trauma (P value < 0.0001). Conclusions. Findings of our study suggest that maternal and paternal adverse events were associated with ADHD symptoms, but breast feeding is a protective factor.

Neonatal jaundice and increased risk of attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder: a population‐based cohort study

“…The strength of our study was that it adjusted for perinatal comorbidities during the perinatal period, including respiratory conditions, infections, preterm birth, and low birth weight, which may confound the development of ADHD (Golmirzaei et al, 2013;Silva, Colvin, Hagemann, & Bower, 2013;Singh, Kenney, Ghandour, Kogan, & Lu, 2013) and which have not been adjusted for in previous studies. Moreover, the ethnicity of the subjects in the current study was Chinese, which differed from previous studies that have investigated predominantly Caucasian populations (Jangaard et al, 2008;Kuzniewicz et al, 2009).…”

“…Although the causes of ADHD are not well understood, both genetic and environmental factors are thought to play roles (Swanson et al, 1998(Swanson et al, , 2007. Certain adverse events during the perinatal period, such as preeclampsia, maternal cigarette and alcohol consumption, and abdominal trauma during pregnancy, have been reported to be associated with symptoms of ADHD (Golmirzaei et al, 2013;Jangaard, Fell, Dodds, & Allen, 2008;Swanson et al, 1998Swanson et al, , 2007. Moreover, previous studies have examined the relationship between ADHD and certain postnatal events that are associated with potential neurologic damage, including neonatal jaundice, childhood head trauma, and epilepsy (Golmirzaei et al, 2013;Jangaard et al, 2008;Kuzniewicz, Escobar, & Newman, 2009).…”

“…Certain adverse events during the perinatal period, such as preeclampsia, maternal cigarette and alcohol consumption, and abdominal trauma during pregnancy, have been reported to be associated with symptoms of ADHD (Golmirzaei et al, 2013;Jangaard, Fell, Dodds, & Allen, 2008;Swanson et al, 1998Swanson et al, , 2007. Moreover, previous studies have examined the relationship between ADHD and certain postnatal events that are associated with potential neurologic damage, including neonatal jaundice, childhood head trauma, and epilepsy (Golmirzaei et al, 2013;Jangaard et al, 2008;Kuzniewicz, Escobar, & Newman, 2009). Up to 85% of newborns develop physiologic jaundice, which is mostly caused by the reduced hepatic enzyme activity of glucuronyl transferase, which turns bilirubin into water-soluble bilirubin glucuronides for elimination in the first few days of life (Maisels, 1982;Dennery, Seidman, & Stevenson, 2001).…”

Recalled Initiation and Duration of Maternal Breastfeeding Among Children with and Without ADHD in a Well Characterized Case–Control Sample

“…Findings that children with ADHD were less likely than other children to be breastfed for the recommended 6-month period were noted in retrospective, maternal-recall studies in Turkey (Sabuncuoglu, Orengul, Bikmazer, & Kaynar, 2014), a community study in Iran (Golmirzaei et al, 2013), clinic referrals in Israel (Mimouni-Bloch et al, 2013), school children in Egypt, (Al Hamed et al, 2008), a case control study in Poland (Kadziela-Olech & Piotrowska-Jastrzebska, 2005), a hospital chart review in Alabama (Field, 2014), a community study in Saudi Arabia (Al Hamed et al, 2008), as well as a prospective study of 4 year olds in Spain (Julvez et al, 2007). The association between breastfeeding and reduced likelihood of child ADHD is also supported by two population wide surveys, one in Germany (Schmitt & Romanos, 2012) and one in the United States (Shamberger, 2012).…”

The development of lasting impairments: A mild pediatric brain injury alters gene expression, dendritic morphology, and synaptic connectivity in the prefrontal cortex of rats

“…The prefrontal cortex was the primary area of exploration because it is significantly correlated with the functional impairments generally reported after mTBI and it is undergoing substantial growth and plasticity during childhood and adolescence (Bock et al, 2005;Kolb et al, 2012). mTBIs are often associated with deficits in executive control and attention (Larson et al, 2011;Golmirzaei et al, 2013;Howell et al, 2013), impaired social skills (Janusz et al, 2002;Mychasiuk et al, 2014b), and diminished shortterm/working memory (Malojcic et al, 2008); all of which rely upon the neural circuits of the prefrontal cortex. The examination of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) included Golgi-Cox investigation of pyramidal neuron morphology, analysis of gene expression changes for seven distinct genes, Nogo-A, DNMT1, BDNF, FGF2, IGF1, Oxytocin-Receptor, and TERT, and determination of telomere length (TL).…”