Though it is true that "intra family marriages are common in certain
communities and tribes in this part of the world", this is not so common
in most of the Indian population. Nevertheless, we checked for the
consanguinity status for all the families included in our study,
including 3 Muslim probands out of 41 ADHD cases, and found the
consanguinity status to be negative in all cases. Further, we have not
noticed any single case of familial ADHD, where we can look for
concentrated cognitive characteristics.
Comorbidity of ADHD and dyslexia is indeed a common
observation and we excluded such ADHD cases from our study. Only
"classical ADHD" cases were selected.
TABLE I
Criteria for Selection of Study Subjects.
DSM-IV |
IQ (WISC) |
Conners’
rating |
Diagnosis |
Qualified |
>75 |
<12 |
Specific
learning
disability |
Qualified |
>75 |
>12 |
ADHD
L |
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) was
used for IQ evaluation of the children. WISC is a common test to
evaluate a child’s cognitive and intellectual functioning and is an
important tool for diagnosing learning disability(1). IQ status of the
subjects was used to discriminate between mentally challenged
individuals (with IQ <75) and normal children/adolescents with poor
scholastic achievements (IQ >75). The diagnosis of ADHD was based on
DSM-IV-TR, the Conners’ Parents and Teachers Rating Scale and WISC.
Subjects for the association study were selected as per the criteria in
Table I.
Kanchan Mukhopadhyay,
Manovikas Biomedical Research and
Diagnostic Center,
482, Madudah, Plot 1-24,
Sec.- J, E.M. Bypass,
Kolkata 700 107,
West Bengal, India.
1. Reading and learning disabilities. A Publication of the National
Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities. FS17, 4th
Edition, February 2004.