Elementary school teachers' knowledge regarding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Ha'il City

Abstract

Aims: Teachers are often the first to recognize that their students have attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), since students and teachers are in contact most school days, and teachers notice how average students usually perform in the school setting. There were two aims in this study; 1) to assess teachers’ knowledge regarding ADHD and 2) to investigate socio- demographic differences between teachers on their knowledge of ADHD in the city of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia. Methods: From January to February 2020 we conducted a cross-sectional study using an electronic questionnaire distributed randomly through visits to schools. The study population comprised of 405 teachers working in governmental elementary schools in Ha’il city. The questionnaire contained a total of 44 questions, 39 of them from the Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorder Scale developed by Sciutto et al and 5 demographic questions. Respondents’ answers were used to evaluate their general knowledge about ADHD and its symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. We also requested information and classified teachers according to their demographic characteristics. Results: The age ranges for teachers were between 22 and 60 years. The average percentage of knowledge regarding ADHD symptoms/diagnosis was 45.3%, whereas general knowledge and awareness of treatment measures were 32.3% and 31.2%, respectively. The average percentage score of overall knowledge regarding ADHD was 34.9%. Conclusions: ADHD knowledge among elementary school teachers in Ha’il city was insufficient considering the primary role of teachers in identifying this disorder.

Keywords

• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
• adhd
• saudi arabia
• knowledge
• school teachers
• teacher training