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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · J Neurosci Rural Pract 2021; 12(01): 071-079
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1718645
Original Article

Impact of COVID-19 and Lockdown on Children with ADHD and Their Families—An Online Survey and a Continuity Care Model

Ruchita Shah
1   Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
V. Venkatesh Raju
1   Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Akhilesh Sharma
1   Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
,
Sandeep Grover
1   Department of Psychiatry, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
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Abstract

Background Little is known about the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on children with attention-deficit hyperkinetic disorder (ADHD). This study aimed to assess the impact of lockdown on children with the ADHD, and their families. Additionally, feasibility of carrying out “text message-based” intervention was evaluated.

Methods An online survey was performed to evaluate the impact of lockdown on children with ADHD and their family members. Additionally, a “text message”-based intervention was performed over 2 weeks. Along with the text-based intervention, we also provided reading materials and an option of telephonic consultation.

Results Of the 80 parents who initially consented to participate, 48 filled the baseline survey, and 41 agreed to receive intervention. Out of 41, 29 filled satisfaction survey. During the lockdown period, there was worsening of symptoms of ADHD in the form of increase (slight or marked) in the activity level (50.1%), irritability (45.8%), and disturbing or disruptive behavior (47.7%) in children. In terms of behavior of family members, there was marked/slight increase in irritability (37.5%), and shouting at the child (43.8%), verbal abuse (25%), and punishing the child (27.1%). Additionally, there was an increase in the praising (67.6%) and spending time with the child (72.9%). Text-based messages on a scale of 0 to 10 were rated as 5.79 for the content, 5.76 for the usefulness, and 6 for satisfaction.

Conclusion Lockdown resulted in worsening of symptoms among children of ADHD and it had impact on the interaction pattern of the children and parents. A “text message”-based intervention is a feasible and possibly acceptable option to deal with the behavioral problem of the children and adolescents with ADHD.

Keywords

ADHD - survey - text message - intervention


Publication History

Publication Date:
12 November 2020 (online)

© 2020. Association for Helping Neurosurgical Sick People. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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Comment to this article:

Commentary on Impact of COVID-19 and Lockdown on Children with ADHD and Their Families—An Online Survey and a Continuity Care ModelJ Neurosci Rural Pract 2021; 12(01): 222-222
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1721542