Co-occurrence of developmental delays among preschool children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder

The aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive profile of the sensory, motor, language, and intellectual functioning of a non-referred community sample of 49 preschool children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; 39 males, 10 females; mean age 4y 7mo [SD 7mo]; range 3y 10mo-6y) and 48 typically developing children (38 males, 10 females; mean age 4y 8mo [SD 6mo]; range 3y 11mo-6y) matched by age, sex, and maternal education who underwent a broad battery of neurodevelopmental tests. The results showed that the scores of the ADHD group were significantly lower than the comparison group on all measures. In addition, 23 (47%) of the children with ADHD had clinically significant co-occurring deficits in two or more areas. Logistic regression indicated that the only significant predictors of group classification were scores of verbal intelligence and motor and sensory functioning, accounting for 44.1% of the variance. These findings suggest that preschool children with ADHD have multiple developmental deficits over and above the core symptoms of ADHD and emphasize the importance of evaluating the sensorimotor functioning of preschool children with ADHD symptoms.