Utilidad de la Escala de Conners en la identificación de síntomas de déficit de atención e hiperactividad en niños y niñas con retraso mental

Abstract

Background:  attention deficit and hyperactivity symptoms are very common among children with mental retardation. However, it is not known the useful of Conners scale for identify these symptoms among these children. Objective: To validate Conners scale for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders among boys and girls with mental retardation from outpatient service of psychiatric hospital. Method: we compared Conners scale and clinical interview in thirty-four scholar boys and girls and established sensibility, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and Cohens kappa. Results: Conners scale showed a sensibility of 89.5%, specificity of 80.0%, positive predictive value of 85%, negative predictive value 85.7%, and Cohens kappa of 0.70 (p<0.0001). Conclusion:  Conners scale is a useful tool for screening attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders among boys and girls with mental retardation. More investigations are needed.