Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale‐Parent Report for screening children with ADHD: Looking beyond symptoms in ADHD diagnosis

Abstract

AbstractAimThe current study aimed at examining the ability of the Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale‐Parent Report (WFIRS‐P) to discriminate between children with ADHD and controls in functional impairment and identifying optimal cutoff scores for the WFIRS‐P subscales and total scale.MethodsParents of 51 children with ADHD (90.2% male; grades 1–6) and 51 gender/grade matched controls (90.2% male; grades 1–6) completed the WFIRS‐P. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to examine the ability of the WFIRS‐P to differentiate children with ADHD from controls and to determine optimal cutoff scores of the WFIRS‐P.ResultsArea under the curve (AUC) was 0.98 for the WFIRS‐P total scale, indicating excellent ability to differentiate children with ADHD from controls. The score of 0.45 with 0.88 for sensitivity and 0.96 for specificity was determined as the optimal cutoff score for the total scale of the WFIRS‐P. AUC was 0.73 to 0.97 for the WFIRS‐P subscales, suggesting good to excellent ability for discriminating between children with ADHD and controls. Among the subscales, the family subscale score of 0.42 with 0.92 for sensitivity and 0.96 for specificity showed the highest discriminating power. The self‐concept and life skills subscales had low sensitivity, suggesting Iranian mothers do not identify problems with self‐concept or difficulty with life skills as particularly problematic in ADHD.ConclusionsThe WFIRS‐P is a sensitive and specific measure of the functional impairment associated with ADHD in Iranian children. Our sample was predominantly male, limiting the generalizability of results to females.