Relation between vitamin D level and clinical profile of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Abstract EN

background : Recently, the role of micronutrients in the pathophysiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a matter of discussion; however, vitamin D received less attention.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study done over the relation between levels of vitamin D and clinical profile of children with ADHD.

Aim : To examine serum vitamin D level among children diagnosed with ADHD and to detect if there is a relation between the deficiency of this vitamin (if present) and other criteria of the disease such as severity and type of symptoms.

Subjects and methods : This is a cross-sectional study on N=130 children diagnosed with ADHD and a control group of healthy children (N=100).

All participants were subjected to complete physical examination, socioeconomic assessment and measuring of serum 25 (OH) vitamins D.

Children with ADHD were assessed using KID-SCID, Conner's scale, Stanford Binet Intelligence test.

Results: Vitamin D level was significantly lower in children with ADHD (p=.001), negatively correlated with Conner's scale (ADHD severity) (p=.046), and more prevalent in children with the attention deficit type (p=.043).

Conclusion : Low level of vitamin D is common in the attention deficit type and is associated with more severe illness.