Attention deficits and clumsiness in Swedish 7-year-old children

A population study of 409 seven-year-old children in a middle-sized Swedish town was performed. All children were examined by the same doctor and eval uated by means of parent interview, motor examinations, and teacher reports on behaviour in the classroom. Follow-up was carried out 8 months later. T he rate of severe problems in the fields of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and deficits i n attention, motor control, and perception (DAMP) (the combination of ADHD and DCD) was 6.1%, with boys being affected more frequently than girls. The re was considerable overlap between ADHD and DCD, with about half of each d iagnostic group also meeting criteria for the other diagnosis. Attention de ficits at diagnosis strongly predicted attention deficits at follow-up. If parents had noted attention deficits in the home setting, then teachers alm ost always independently agreed that there were similar problems in the cla ssroom. However, the reverse did not always apply. Clumsiness also showed s triking stability over time. The diagnosis of DAMP, particularly severe DAM P, had a stronger association with classroom dysfunction and with high Conn ers scores than did diagnoses of ADHD or DCD. It is concluded that DAMP may be a clinically valid diagnostic construct.