Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Examination

A comprehensive clinical examination is the basis for selecting further diagnostic steps:

• General physical examination – including blood pressure, pulse, body weight, height; further:
  • Inspection (viewing).
    • Skin and mucous membranes
  • Inspection and palpation (palpation) of the thyroid gland [due topossible cause: hyperthyroidism (hyperthyroidism)].
  • Auscultation (listening) of the heart
  • Auscultation of the lungs
  • Palpation of the abdomen (abdomen) (tenderness?, knocking pain?, coughing pain?, defensive tension?, hernial orifices?, kidney bearing knocking pain?)
• Neurological examination – including elicitation of reflexes, examination of sensibility and motor function, etc. [due topossible causes:
  • Epilepsy (recurrent (recurring) seizures).
  • CNS (central nervous system; brain and spinal cord) disorders.
  • Craniocerebral trauma (TBI; injury to the head and brain).
  • CNS injuries]

  [due todifferential diagnoses:

  • Autism (disorder in which the affected person isolates himself from the outside world and isolates himself in a world of his own).
  • Rett syndrome (early childhood encephalopathy (collective term for pathological changes in the brain) occurring only in girls)]
• Psychiatric examination [due todifferential diagnoses:
  • Bipolar disorder (mental disorder in which depressive and manic phases occur).
  • Depression
  • Disintegrative disorder (inclusion disorder).
  • Dysthymia (depressive mood)
  • Emotional disorders, unspecified
  • Developmental disorders, unspecified
  • Mental retardation, unspecified
  • Generalized anxiety disorder (GAS)
  • Reduced intelligence
  • Oppositional behavior disorder (individuals who resist all duties and tasks).
  • Panic disorder
  • Psychosis
  • Schizophrenia
  • Social behavior disorders, unspecified
  • Tic disorders]

  [due topossible sequelae:

  • Aggression
  • Antisocial behavior
  • In 40-80% of affected children, a disorder is still detectable in adulthood
  • Impairment of the development of social roles
  • Delinquency
  • Depression
  • Oppositional behavior disorders
  • Risky Behavior
  • Mood swings
  • Disorders of social behavior
  • Addictive disorders]
• Health check

Square brackets [ ] indicate possible pathological (pathological) physical findings.