Comparison of a Parent-rated DSM-IV Measure of Attention-deficit/hyperactivity Disorder and Quantitative EEG Parameters in an Outpatient Sample of Children

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was investigated using the parent-as-respondent, 200-item, Coolidge Personality and Neuropsychology Inventory (CPNI) and a quantitative electroencephalograph (QEEG). Parents of 183 children (mean age = 12.2 years) brought to an outpatient private clinic for behavioral and/or emotional problems completed the CPNI including the 18-item DSM-IV-based ADHD scale and their children were also evaluated by QEEG. The correlation between the CPNI ADHD scale T score and the categorical QEEG parameter (based on the beta-theta power ratio) for the identification of ADHD was r = -0.15. Using a dichotomous ADHD CPNI measure (positive/negative) and the QEEG beta-theta power ratio resulted in an r value of -0.09. The sensitivity of the QEEG ADHD parameter and the CPNI ADHD scale was 50% and the specificity was 36%. The results stand in contrast to those of who found 90% sensitivity and 94% specificity between behavioral measures of ADHD and the QEEG scanning procedure. The lack of correspondence between the two measures is discussed.