Evaluation of attention deficit findings in patients with zinc deficiency in pediatric outpatient clinic before and after treatment according to conners scale

Objectives: Approximately 50% of the world's population is at risk of insufficient zinc intake. Although it is estimated that zinc deficiency is common in Turkey, the prevalence of zinc deficiency in our country cannot be stated precisely due to insufficient studies. This study aims to evaluate the attention deficit symptoms with the Conners Parent Rating Scale and to analyze the changes in the scale scores after zinc treatment in patients whose zinc level was found to be coincidentally low in the pediatric outpatient clinic. It is aimed that the data to be obtained from the study will contribute to the literature on the relationship between zinc and attention deficit symptoms, and help the long-term follow-up of the patients and the planning of their medical treatment. Design and Methods: Fifty pediatric patients aged 5-17 years, who were found to have low zinc levels incidentally in the pediatric outpatient clinic, without known ADHD diagnosis, neurological disease, or psychiatric disease were included in the study. 1 mg/kg/g zinc treatment was applied to the patients included in the study for 3 months, and control zinc values were observed after the treatment. Patients were evaluated with the Conners Parental Rating Scale before and after 3 months of zinc treatment. Results: Fifty patients, 23 (46%) male and 27 (54%) female, were included in the study. The mean age of the patient group was calculated as 7.43±4.42 years. Pre-treatment zinc levels were 58.44±7.76, and post-treatment zinc levels were 80.28±18.95. The scores of the patients before and after the treatment from the "Conners parent rating scale" were analyzed comparatively and all scores were found to be significantly lower after the treatment than before the treatment, except for the "Conners emotional lability" score (p<0.05). When the correlation between the pre-treatment zinc levels and the scores they got from the pre-treatment scale was examined, a moderately significant correlation was found in the same direction between the pre-treatment zinc level and the pre-treatment "oppositional" score(r=0.357, p=0.011), "social problems" score (r=0.314, p=0.027) and "psychosomatic" score (r=0.423, p=0.002). Conclusions: The results of our study supported that zinc deficiency plays a role in the etiology of attention deficit and that zinc treatment has a curative effect on attention deficit symptoms in accordance with the literature. In our study, the most significant difference was found in the subscales of hyperactivity, anxiety, shyness and social problems. Keywords: Pediatric, Zinc, ADHD, Conners