General practitioners' familiarity attitudes and practices with regard to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adults

[摘要] Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common disorder affecting 4%to 5% of South African children. Recent studies revealed that 30% to 70% of childrencontinue to experience problems related to ADHD in adulthood. Adults are becomingincreasingly more aware of adult ADHD as a result of public awareness campaignsin the media. Their first line of action is to visit their family physician, but the questionarises whether these practitioners are ready to take on the patients with ADHD. Theaims of this study were to determine the familiarity, attitudes and practices of generalpractitioners in South Africa with regard ADHD in both children and adults andwhether there are differences in children and adults with regard to depression andgeneralised anxiety disorders as comorbid disorders. The study also briefly exploredthe training models of general practitioners in South Africa. The research questionsare addressed by means of a survey approach, using quantitative measures. An emailmessage with a cover letter, explaining the purpose of the research project,provided a link to a Web-based questionnaire. It was broadcast to 6704 generalpractitioners on the database of the company MEDpages, who managed thebroadcast. A questionnaire attached to an e-mail message was sent to allDepartments of Family Health at universities in the country to obtain information withregard to the training models of general practitioners. This was followed up withstructured telephone interviews if no response was received. The questionnaire wascompleted by 229 respondents. The data were statistically analysed using StatisticaVersion 7.0. The results revealed a significant need among general practitioners toincrease their knowledge base with regard to ADHD, more so with regard to adults.Their knowledge and training with regard to depression and generalised anxietydisorders were significantly more extensive with regard to adults as opposed tochildren. Training with regard to ADHD in adults was almost non-existent. It wasrecommended that the limited knowledge base of general practitioners with regard toADHD should be addressed by adapting the curriculum of undergraduate medicalstudents and providing opportunities for continued medical education that focus onthe diagnosis and management of ADHD in both children and adults. Generalpractitioners should acknowledge the educational psychologist as an equal partnerwithin a multi-disciplinary team

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University