Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine whether the reluctance of child carers and teachers to consider the need to diagnose and medicate children at daycare centres and of early school age, can explain the discrepancy between the proportion of Danish children actually diagnosed with ADHD/DAMP, and the percentage of children who estimates indicate should be diagnosed by the Danish Medicines Agency and the Danish ADHD association, and receive medication for the disorder (0.26% diagnosed against 6-7% expected cases in the age group five to nine years).
Result
The results of the qualitative studies confirm the study's original hypothesis or presumption:
that child carers and teachers in Denmark are reluctant to diagnose and ensure medical treatment
for five to nine-year-old children. This reluctance is due to insufficient information and lack of knowledge, diagnostic confusion caused by a turbulent history in diagnosing MBD (minimal brain damage), DAMP, ADHD and hyperactivity (in accordance with the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases, ICD-10 ) and a culturally determined Danish attitude of being relatively relaxed with regard to child behaviour in kindergarten and at school.
Design
The design consists of a systematic review as well as opinion and attitude studies. The data are collected through semi-structured one-to-one interviews that are conducted with nine child carers, pre-school teachers and 1st grade teachers from three demographically different areas in Denmark. All informants work with children aged between five and seven who display general behavioural difficulties.
References
Holst. J. (2008). Danish teacher’s conception of challenging behaviour and DAMP/ADHD: Early Child Development and Care 178 (4) S. 363-374.
Financed by
Not disclosed