Clinical characteristics of pediatric attention deficit hyperactivity disorder patients born with low birth weight, small for gestational age, or preterm.

Aim: To clarify the frequency and characteristics of patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) born with low birth weight (LBW), very low birth weight (VLBW), small for gestational age (SGA), or preterm, we examined the clinical characteristics of ADHD patients.

Methods: We collected data for 168 ADHD children, and the patients were retrospectively divided into each group according to birth weight, height, and gestational age.

Results: 1) Patients with ADHD born with LBW, VLBW, SGA, or preterm accounted for 10.1%, 3.0%, 3.6%, or 6.5% of all patients, respectively. 2) ADHD-RS scores for hyperactivity disorder and the frequency of patients requiring ADHD drugs in the LBW infant group were higher than those in the non-LBW infant group. 3) ADHD-RS scores for hyperactivity disorder and total in the VLBW infant group were higher than those in the non-VLBW infant (birth weight:1,500-2,500 g) group. 4) The ADHD scores for attention-deficit and trouble score at the most recent follow-up patients born with SGA were higher than for non-SGA patients.

Conclusions: These results suggest that it is necessary to pay attention to the appearance of neurodevelopment disorders such as ADHD when monitoring the progress of patients born with LBW or VLBW, and it is important to provide more appropriate management and therapeutic guidance for patients born with VLBW or SGA.