Investigating primary school educators’ insights into attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: A cross sectional study in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana

TL;DR

This study explores Ghanaian primary school teachers' knowledge and misconceptions about ADHD in the Greater Accra Region.

Contribution

The study is the first to assess Ghanaian teachers' understanding and misconceptions of ADHD.

Findings

Teachers had low average knowledge scores (32.29%) about ADHD general knowledge.

Common misconceptions included beliefs that children with ADHD outgrow the condition and that dietary sugar reduction helps symptoms.

Higher knowledge scores were significantly linked to education background, prior ADHD training, and teaching experience with ADHD children.

Abstract

Schoolteachers play an integral role in the diagnosis and management of students with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Despite its increased importance in Ghana, no study has been conducted to assess the knowledge and misperceptions of Ghanaian schoolteachers about ADHD. This study thus aimed to evaluate schoolteachers’ level of knowledge and misperceptions about ADHD. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among teachers from eleven primary schools in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana from February to July 2023. A validated and self-administered questionnaire, comprising a demographic questionnaire and the Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorder Scale (KADDS), was used to collect data on participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, and misperceptions about ADHD. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed on the data using SPSS version. 26. Statistical significance was set at p = 0.05. The study included 170 participants, the majority being female (62.4%). The average percentage of knowledge regarding ADHD general knowledge, symptoms/diagnosis, and treatment was 32.29%, 40.92%, and 31.32%, respectively. The overall proportion of correct, incorrect, and “do not know” responses was 34.90%, 23.40%, and 41.70%, respectively. Common misconceptions included the belief that children with ADHD often outgrow the condition and that reducing dietary sugar alleviates symptoms. Educational background (p = 0.037), prior ADHD training (p = 0.005), and experience teaching an ADHD child (p = 0.003) were significantly associated with higher knowledge scores. There is a need for childhood mental health training among teachers and further research in this field in Ghana.

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