[Clinical assessment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, interview model and controversial issues]

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequent reasons for visits to neuropaediatric services. Although the clinical criteria are well established, the medical history is probably not examined with enough care and the most decisive symptoms go unnoticed. AIM. To review a clinical interview model by analysing the first visit of a sample of patients.

Our sample consisted of 108 schoolchildren with ADHD whose first visit was to a clinic specialised in hyperactivity and learning difficulties. The most significant data were families' concern about academic achievement, the higher prevalence of the combined subtype of ADHD in girls and age at the visit, with a growing demand for health care during the preschool stage and after the teenage period.

The data obtained define a familial scenario or model of ADHD where there is a mixture of the symptoms of the parents, their occupational situation, that of their partner and the ADHD phenotype of the schoolchild we are dealing with.

More attention must be paid to the neurodevelopmental period in the preschool stage. Language, which is the most affected area, is the foundation underlying both behaviour and socialisation. Their delayed development, together with the lack of interest in games and clumsiness, is among the features that have been identified for ADHD in small children. Interpreting temperament and explosive behaviour as difficulties hindering social learning is another of the considerations that can be deduced from this clinical research.