Attention develops throughout childhood and enables adaptive behavior for meeting daily demands in school and during social interactions. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) represents the most common cause of childhood attention impairment.
Arriving at an accurate diagnosis is often the central goal of assessment, and in clinical settings, there is additional emphasis on the need for assessment to aid in case conceptualization, treatment planning, and progress monitoring. Assessment of ADHD requires parents, teachers and clinical interviews, observation, neuropsychological measures and neurophysiological investigations.
Rating scales may be the most useful diagnostic tool in demonstrating attention impairment, but their utility is limited as such measures do not demonstrate particular impairments. So, objective measures of attention may be needed to detect more subtle forms of impairment in children with ADHD.
The purpose of the current review was to describe the different assessment tools of attention impairment in ADHD children in order to identify the most effective methods of assessment to provide accurate diagnosis and treatment planning.