The symptoms and management of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder during COVID-19 pandemic at the child and adolescent psychiatry clinic, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital
Keywords:
Adolescents, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, children, COVID-19 pandemicAbstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused abrupt changes in almost everybody’s life, particularly children. Children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have difficulties in many aspects in lives and may have worsening of the symptoms during the pandemic.
Objectives: This cross-sectional descriptive study aimed to investigate the changes of the ADHD symptoms and managements of children with ADHD during the first lockdown and after-lockdown period.
Methods: Parent-reported questionnaires i.e. the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham Rating Scale-IV (SNAP-IV) and a demographic questionnaire, were applied to collect data from 109 children with ADHD aged between 4 -18 years during Thailand’s post-lockdown period of October 2020 to January 2021. Descriptive statistics, paired t - test, Pearson’s correlation and Pearson Chi’s square were applied in this study.
Results: The ADHD symptoms of the sample were significantly more severe during the lockdown than the post-lockdown period. Drug compliance and psychosocial interventions were not significantly different between the two periods. Factors affecting ADHD symptoms were male gender, psychosocial interventions, and exercise. A factor affecting drug compliance was total family income. Factors affecting psychosocial interventions were ADHD symptoms.
Conclusions: The ADHD symptoms worsened during the lockdown compared to the post-lockdown period. The pharmacological and psychosocial management of children with ADHD were not significantly different. Recall bias was a potential limitation of this study.
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