Abstract 89

Pediatricians often diagnose and treat ADHD, a heterogeneous childhood disorder associated with multiple etiologies. Several studies conducted prior to DSM-IV suggested that hyperactive and impulsive children displayed evidence of neurodevelopmental immaturity compared to age-matched controls, such as decreased bone-age, smaller stature and increased rates of motor difficulties. Others also suggested that physical growth in ADHD children may be delayed, but they ultimately catch up with their peers. In addition, it is unclear if children with ADHD and average intelligence display increased rates of microcephaly or macrocephaly. The current study is an opportunity to help shed light on these questions, by comparing anthropometric characteristics of children from three groups: those with ADHD (combined or primary hyperactive types); ADD (primarily inattentive type); and psychiatric controls. Making comparisons to psychiatric controls is important to determine if these findings are specific to ADHD, since several other psychiatric disorders (MR, PDD, Anxiety) have been associated with physical characteristics.

Subjects included children (N = 364) referred to a multidisciplinary, hospital-based evaluation clinic specializing in ADHD. Parents completed rating scales and participated in diagnostic interviews while children received psychological testing, interviews and evaluations by a developmental pediatrician. All diagnoses were confirmed by multidisciplinary team consensus after reviewing all data from the parents, children and their schools. Fifty-seven percent of the children met DSM-IV criteria for ADHD, 13% were ADD and the remaining 30% served as psychiatric controls. As a group, children with ADHD were average or slightly above average in height, weight and head circumference, but the variability was higher than expected. In addition, nearly twice as many children than anticipated were at the 90th percentile for height, weight or head circumference. While there were clear differences between groups on behavioral measures, no group differences emerged on any anthropometric measures. In addition, few significant relationships were detected when comparing physical characteristics with behavior ratings or IQ measures.

The results of this study, conducted with predominantly middle class children, provided little evidence of an association between ADHD and anthropometric measures. Thus, children who present for evaluation of ADHD are not likely to display evidence of physical immaturity. Further studies are needed to assess whether these findings hold in a more diverse population and to compare ADHD children with normal (not psychiatric) controls.