Background: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is considered to have a biologic basis, but the precise cause is unknown. It is one of the neurodevelopmental abnormalities observed frequently in children with generalized resistance to thyroid hormone, suggesting that thyroid abnormalities may be related to ADHD.
Aim of this study: to assess thyroid hormones profile among children with ADHD.
Methods: This was a case control cross sectional study, in which 60 ADHD children were recruited from Bab Elsharya outpatient pediatric psychiatry clinic and compared with 28 healthy control children of same age who participated in this research. Serum total T3, total T4, and TSH were assessed with (ELIZA).
Psychometric procedure: The Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale, the Arabic version of Conner's Parent Rating Scale-Revised-Long version, and social score were used to calculate social standards of families.
Laboratory assessment: Serum total T3, total T4, and TSH were assessed with (ELIZA), in which 60 ADHD children were recruited from Bab Elsharya outpatient pediatric psychiatry clinic and compared with 28 healthy control children of same age who participated in this research.
Results: About 80% of the participants were males and 20% were females. Diagnosis according to the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV) showed that 58 (96.7%) of the patients were diagnosed with ADHD combined type by DSM-IV and only one patient(3.3%) had ADHD inattentive type. Forty percent of the patients were from low socioeconomic class, followed by 26.7% from moderate socioeconomic, and a very low socioeconomic class; however, 6.6% were from a high socioeconomic class. There was a statistically significant difference between cases and control groups in all components of Conner's Parent Rating Scale; all cases had higher means than the control group (P = 0.001). There was no significant difference between both the study group and their siblings in serum total T3, thyroid-stimulating hormone, T4 (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Children with ADHD have no thyroid profile abnormalities.