RESUMO
The attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent chronic neuropsychiatric illness in childhood. It interferes with normal development of children. Its impact transcends childhood to appear in adolescence and adulthood. Diagnosis would be developed if the child shows the main symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity, with consequences in different aspects of daily life, such as academic achievements, family life or social interactions with other children. These symptoms will come up along life in different ways. When the child is young, hyperactivity and impulsivity prevail, but as he/she grows, the dispersion and difficulty to remember things and facts will become more evident. The aim of the study was to assess with the Vanderbilt scale, based on DSM-IV diagnostic criteria, the differences of the impact of ADHD among parents, in comparison to the medical diagnosis. A retrospective study was carried out by using this questionnaire, which completed by both parents individually. A total of 78 children took part in this study, all of them diagnosed with ages ranging from 6 to 16 years old, who attended to Neuropedriatics at VAlle del Nalón Hospital(Asturias), between October 2011 and March 2013. Regarding attention deficit, the average responses given by mothers (7.38 ± 1.81) was higher than that offered by fathers (647 ± 2/46). The same is true for hyperactivity/impulsivity, with average scores of mothers (5.80 ± 2.90) which were one positive response higher than those given by male patients (4.74 ± 3.04). Mothers show a higher percentage of agreement with the medical diagnosis (86.3%) when the child was a girl and 66% with boys, whereas for fathers the percentage of agreement was less than 50% female children and 44.6% for male children.