Evaluation and diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Abstract

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a high prevalence pathology during childhood and adolescence. Clinical practice shows a high number of children who seek treatment having a previous ADHD diagnosis, which is, oftentimes, incorrect. Prevalence studies themselves show rather different findings, which alert for the need to question the evaluation and diagnosis process. This study aims to highlight the most used techniques to evaluate the child and the adolescent, focusing on the process as a whole, as well as the instruments and tests that can be used in order to have more reliability on the diagnosis and on the treatment.