Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has a prevalence up to 4% of the general adult population, however in Spain adult ADHD is underdiagnosed. Screening instruments can help clinicians to detect adult ADHD. The World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale-Version 1.1 (ASRS v1.1) is a 6-question scale designed to screen for adult ADHD.

A validation of Spanish version of the ASRS v1.1 was performed.

A case control study was carry out (adult ADHD vs non ADHD) in the Adult ADHD Program of the Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron (Barcelona). ADHD evaluation was performed using Conners Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID-Part II) and the diagnosis was compared with the ASRS v1.1 responses. Logistic regression study was made to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV). Kappa coefficient of classification accuracy and area under curve (AUC) were calculated.

Sample consisted of 90 adult ADHD and 90 controls. Average age was 31.6 (SD=10.09) and 57.8% of subjects were men (there were no significant differences between the two groups). Logistic regression analysis showed that the score model proposed by the authors of scale is significant (c2 =129.36, p=.0005): Sensitivity (82.2%), specificity (95.6%), PPV (94.8%), NPV (84.3%), Kappa coefficient 0.78 and AUC 0.89.

The Spanish version of the ASRS v1.1 6-question shows adequate psychometric characteristics and it is a valid scale to screen ADHD for adults in a clinical setting.