[Clinical and epidemiologic aspects of attention deficit hyperactivity syndrome (ADHD) in ambulatory practice]

The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence and to describe the clinical presentations of Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Syndrome in the pediatric patients of the Outpatient Specialty Clinic of the "Sf. Spiridon" University Hospital of Iaşi (a pediatric neuro-psychiatry practice and a general pediatric practice). The studied group consisted of 51 children and adolescents ages 2 years 6 month-18 years of age (urban environment 34 children--66%, rural environment 17 children--34% ; male gender 36 children--70%, female gender 15 children--30%). The pediatric patients represented a prevalence of 1.9% of the Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Syndrome having the main features: motor and psychological instability, lack of attention, negativism, impulsivity, and social and school integration difficulties. The existence in 40% of cases of family problems (couple pathology, parents with psychiatric disorders, alcoholism, etc) proves the importance of the family patterns description in the apparition and evolution of Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Syndrome. The study performed underlines the existence of the Attention Deficit Hyperkinetic Syndrome, the necessity of multi-disciplinary intervention with the purpose of precise and on-time diagnosis of this syndrome, to ensure a better integration of these children and teenagers in the social and school environment.