The purpose of this study was to describe the balance skills of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, N=13) who are free of orthopedic and or neurological problems. The specific objective was to compare those with ADHD in two conditions, ON or OFF medication and stratified into younger (6-10 years) and older (11-14 years) groups vs. age-matched, typically developing (TD) participants (N=12).
Method
Subjects were recruited from the Lubbock and it's surrounding community through the school districts and a local pediatricians' clinic. The variables included several balance indices: equilibrium scores (EQ), and sensory ratios (contributions of somatosensory (SS), visual (VIS) and vestibular (VEST) systems), all derived from the sensory organization testing protocol resident in the Balance Master (Neurocom®).
Analysis/Results
Results of the analyses of EQ scores comparing ADHD OFF and TD children (ANOVA, group x age) indicated no significant differences between groups F (3,21) = .077, p = .78 (M = 70.77 and 69.58, for ADHD OFF and TD groups respectively), while the significant age effect (F (3, 21) = 10.434, p =.004) was evident in the mean EQ scores for children with ADHD (OFF): M = 75.57 and 65.17 for older and younger groups respectively. For TD children, EQ mean scores for older and younger children were 73.5 and 65.67 respectively. Although similar (non-significant) results were found when EQ scores of ADHD (ON) and TD children were compared when the former were ON medication, the differences approached significance F (3, 18) = 4.028 (p =.06) with EQ means of M = 77.00 (ADHD ON) and 69.58 (TD).
Comparing sensory ratios (SS, VIS, VEST) of ADHD OFF vs. TD groups resulted in a non-significant group effect, F (3,21) =.156, p =.92, α =.05, Wilks's λ = .98. However a significant age effect was found, F (3,21) = 4.845, p =.01, α = .05, Wilks λ = 0.57. Comparing ADHD ON and TD subjects showed neither a significant group, F (3,18) = 1.96, p = .16, α = .05, Wilks's λ =.73, nor age effect, F (3, 18) =1.54, p = .24, α = .05, Wilks's λ =.78.
Conclusions
Age-related development in balance by children with ADHD (without comorbidities) was comparable to TD children. However, higher variability in balance performance of ADHD was observed and perhaps contributed to the non-significant results.
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