Daily functioning profile of children with attention deficit hyperactive disorder: A pilot study using an ecological assessment

Abstract

Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often present with activities of daily living (ADL) performance deficits. This study aimed to compare the performance characteristics of children with ADHD to those of controls based on the Do-Eat assessment tool, and to establish the tool's validity. Participants were 23 children with ADHD and 24 matched controls, aged 6–9 years. In addition to the Do-Eat, the Children Activity Scale–Parent (ChAS-P) and the Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) were used to measure sensorimotor abilities and executive function (EF). Significant differences were found in the Do-Eat scores between children with ADHD and controls. Significant moderate correlations were found between the Do-Eat sensorimotor scores, the ChAS-P and the BRIEF scores in the ADHD group. Significant correlations were found between performance on the Do-Eat and the ChAS-P questionnaire scores, verifying the tool's ecological validity. A single discriminant function described primarily by four Do-Eat variables, correctly classified 95.5% of the study participants into their respective study groups, establishing the tool's predictive validity within this population. These preliminary findings indicate that the Do–Eat may serve as a reliable and valid tool that provides insight into the daily functioning characteristics of children with ADHD. However, further research on larger samples is indicated.

Keywords:

• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Evaluation
• Daily Performance
• Executive Functions
• Sensory-Motor

We thank the participants and their parents, as well as Dr. Suzana Berman, Mrs. Michal Sion and additional pediatricians from Maccabi Health Services in Haifa, Israel for their support in carrying out this research. The study was performed in partial fulfilment of a Master's degree by Carmit Frisch, OT.