Incidence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Learning Disabled Children, A Systematic Review

Children diagnosed with learning disability (LD) have a high incidence of psychiatric comorbidities especially Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These comorbidities are either a direct consequence of the same deficits in the central processing patterns that generate the learning problems, or they tend to stress the role of frustration and failure in academic achievement. These difficulties are claimed to move a vicious circle that leads the child towards ever-greater cognitive and social–emotional impoverishment.

The aim of this work is to conduct a systematic review of ADHD as a comorbid condition in learning disabled children to determine its incidence in learning disabled children in order to estimate the size of the problem to be able to delineate an efficient program in therapeutic intervention later.

This was a systematic review.

Two electronic databases (PubMed and Science Direct) were searched for articles. Relevant studies were further evaluated and studies that met inclusion criteria were reviewed.

The literature search yielded 593 studies. Twenty-eight articles were further evaluated to be included. Five studies met all inclusion criteria and were chosen for review. The studies provide prevalence of ADHD in learning disabled children. We have found higher scores of ADHD in learning disabled children than in the normal population, in all the included studies. The studies reviewed demonstrated the effect of this comorbidity and the importance of its diagnosis for improvement of prognosis of the learning disability.

The current systematic review determines the probable prevalence of the ADHD in learning disabled children.