The Impact of an educational intervention on knowledge of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder among primary school teachers in Lagos Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: Primary school teachers have been identified as important partners in the prompt recognition, referral and management of children with ADHD. However their capacity to function in these roles is hinged on their extent of knowledge about ADHD. Furthermore teachers' knowledge about ADHD may influence the education and clinical outcomes of children with ADHD. This study assessed the impact of an educational intervention program on knowledge about ADHD among primary school teachers in Lagos, Nigeria. Method: An experimental study of the impact of a brief educational intervention on ADHD literacy among primary school teachers (n=144) in Lagos, Nigeria. At baseline, knowledge about symptoms and treatment of ADHD was elicited with a vignette-based questionnaire. The intervention consisted of the administration of an educational leaflet about ADHD, designed by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. One week post-intervention, the baseline assessments were repeated. Results: At baseline, 92.4% of the teachers could not recognise features of ADHD. The majority were also unaware of the role of teachers, medications and psychological interventions in the management of children with ADHD. Post-intervention, significantly greater number of respondents compared with baseline (88.0% vs. 7.6%) correctly identified symptoms of ADHD (p<0.005), and agreed that ADHD could be successfully managed with medications (63.2% vs. 9.0%; p<0.005) and psychological treatment (79.2% vs. 16.7%; p<0.005). Conclusion: A simple low-cost educational intervention is effective in improving knowledge about ADHD among primary school teachers in the shortterm. Further research is required to evaluate the impact of this intervention in the long term.