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Authors:

1. Manal Basudan
2. Naeema Akbar
3. Waled El-Ghamdi
4. Adel Ibrahim

International Annals of Medicine

10.24087/IAM.2019.3.1.693

Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatry disorders in children, it has negative impact on the academic, familial and social functioning of the child. The recent advances in its treatment calls for social intervention including school-based activities, which necessitates knowledgeable teachers.

Aim: The main aim of this study is to explore the level of knowledge and attitude of the school teachers of female primary schools in Jeddah about ADHD.

Subjects and methods: Through a cross sectional design, 376 school teachers were selected by multistage sampling from female primary schools in Jeddah, they were invited to fill a predesigned valid questionnaire reflecting their knowledge and attitude towards ADHD. SPSS ver 21 was used for data entry and statistical analysis which included descriptive as well as analytic analysis using Chi square test. P value<0.05 was considered an indication for significance.

Results: Almost one half of the teachers (47.6%) aged between 40-49 years, who were mostly married (81.1%) and having children (84.3%). Out of them, 8.2% reported that they have ADHD child. Although that more than one half of the teachers (54.3%) thought that they had knowledge about ADHD, the true knowledge test questions revealed a much lower percentage (24.5%) who showed good knowledge about ADHD. Only older teachers had significant better knowledge. More than one half of the teachers (57.2%) perceive that the first step in the management policy when suspecting ADHD is the referral of the child to advisor and asking for attendance of the parents.

Conclusion and recommendations: Most of the teachers have insufficient level of knowledge about ADHD. There is a tangible need for training programs provided to the teachers about early recognition and policy of care of ADHD children.

Keywords

attitudes, awareness, elementary school, featured, girls school, knowledge, teachers

Citation

Basudan, M., Akbar, N., El-Ghamdi, W., & Ibrahim, A. (2019). Knowledge and Attitude of Female Teachers Toward ADHD at Elementary Schools, Jeddah, KSA, 2017. International Annals of Medicine, 3(1), doi: 10.24087/IAM.2019.3.1.693