B3951 - Recognising ADHD in ID - 20/12/2021

B number: 
B3951
Principal applicant name: 
Melanie Palmer | Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King's College London
Co-applicants: 
Professor Emily Simonoff
Title of project: 
Recognising ADHD in ID
Proposal summary: 

Individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID) often have other neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), that lead to further impairments and reduced quality of life. This triad of conditions contributes to difficulties in teasing apart symptoms, adding diagnostic complexity. No ADHD screening tools have been developed specifically for ID populations and they do not take ASD into account. This project will use ALSPAC data to explore the manifestations of ADHD in children and young people with and without ID. The ultimate aim is to enhancing methods for detection of co-occurring ADHD in ID.

Impact of research: 
The ultimate outcome is to improve methods for ADHD recognition in CYP with ID, helping clinicians to arrive at a diagnostic decision about whether co-occurring ADHD is present or not with greater confidence. As ADHD is currently under-recognised in ID, it is likely that improving recognition will increase caseness. Better recognition and more accurate diagnosis of ADHD will be of significant clinical value as it will lead to more appropriate and tailored interventions, improving treatment choice, functional outcomes, and quality of life. The key outcome is to identify the accuracy of ADHD screeners for use with ID, which items are most discriminating, and whether a new measure, or further validation of an existing measure, is needed. Recommendations about recognising ADHD in ID and measurement of ADHD symptomology will be made for parents and clinicians.
Date proposal received: 
Monday, 13 December, 2021
Date proposal approved: 
Monday, 20 December, 2021
Keywords: 
Mental health - Psychology, Psychiatry, Cognition, Behaviour - e.g. antisocial behaviour, risk behaviour, etc., Cognitive impairment, Learning difficulty, Mental health, Statistical methods, Childhood - childcare, childhood adversity, Cognition - cognitive function, Communication (including non-verbal), Psychology - personality, Statistical methods