Primary School Teacher’s knowledge towards Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and its associated factors in Nekemte town, Oromiya Region, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Article InformationThe work of the teacher becomes much more demanding when some learners have AttentionDeficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), as their problems with attention span, impulse control and activity level frequently interfere with activities in the classroom and socially. This study revealed the teachers good knowledge about ADHD but about 43.7% of primary school teachers had poor knowledge. The objective of the study was to assess the primary school teacher's knowledge and misconceptions of ADHD and associated factors in Nekemte Town, Oromiya region Western Ethiopia. This study was conducted in Nekemte full Cycle Primary Schools. Nekemte Town, the capital city of East Wollega zone is found 331 km from the capital Addis Ababa to the West. There are 10 government and 20 private full cycle primary schools in the town. Institution based descriptive cross-sectional study were applied. All primary teachers in the selected schools and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in this study. Non probability convenience sampling technique was utilized to recruit study participants. The period of the study is from December 2015 to January 2016. The collected data were entered into computer using Epi data version 3.5 and analyzed using SPSS for Windows version 21.0. The Binary logistic regression was fitted to assess possible association and the strength of association was measured using odds ratio with 95% CI. The P<0.05 were considered as statistically significant. The results of the study showed that among 206 primary school teachers majority were in the age group of <=40years of age (62.6%) were 50.5 % are female. Most of the participants are teaching general education (96.6%) and 3.4% were teaching special education. For the 41 items knowledge score was computed and the mean value of 15.4 and standard deviation of 6.9 was calculated. Accordingly 15 score was used to categorize the knowledge level of the study participants. Based on the mean value 56.

Elementary school teachers knowledge and attitude towards attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder in Gondar, Ethiopia: a multi-institutional study

“…On the other hand, the current finding was lower than studies conducted in Canada 68%, Colombia 48.52%, Saudi Arabia 58.9%, another Saudi Arabia study 72%, India 49%, and South Africa 78%, [ 8 , 9 , 12 , 27 , 28 , 33 , 34 , 46 ]. The discrepancy could be attributed to educational curricula that were used to teach teachers and the highest educational level attained was observed [ 8 , 9 , 12 , 27 , 28 , 33 , 34 , 46 ].…”

“…The study evidenced that the higher odds of having Good knowledge were observed among participants of the internet user. The same has been reported [ 34 ]. This might be due to the fact that using the internet is a good way of acquiring knowledge and new ways of learning environment for most teachers since it is rapid, cost-effective, get reliable information and publications which enhance knowledge [ 50 – 53 ].…”

“…The sample size for the first two objectives (knowledge and attitude) was calculated by using single population proportion formula based on the following assumptions 95% confidence level of Z α/ 2 = 1.96, the margin of error = 5%. where n = sample size of the population, Z α/ 2 critical value of 95% CI = 1.96, p-proportion (0.564) of knowledge taken from similar previous study’s [ 34 ], for attitude 50% was used since there is no study in the country, before.…”

“…Several factors that can affect teachers knowledge and attitude towards ADHD; some of them are, age, sex, marital status, and educational level of the teachers, and searching on the internet about ADHD were factors that affecting the knowledge and attitude of teachers towards ADHD [ 26 – 34 ].…”

Primary school teachers’ misconceptions about Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Nekemte town, Oromia region, Western Ethiopia

“…Less than 10% of the teachers in our survey thought mistakenly that children with ADHD have an inflexible adherence but special education given to these children’s change their obedience. These particular findings are consistent with the findings of previous studies done by Canu and Mancil, Ghanizadeh et al and few more authors of similar studies [21–24].…”