The Effect of Cognitive Rehabilitation, Physical and Concurrent Training on Sustained, Selective and Shifting Attention in Children with ADHD

Abstract

Objectives: Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common nervous disorders in childhood. The purpose of this study was to investigate effect of cognitive rehabilitation, physical and concurrent training on sustained, selective and shifting attention in ADHD children. Materials and Methods: The study participants included 40 children aged 9-12 years old who were randomly divided into four groups of cognitive rehabilitation training, physical training, combined (physical-cognitive) training and control group. The attendees trained for 16 minutes and each session for 60 minutes. Posttest was performed 24 and 72 hours later. Results: The results of Covariance analysis showed that, the sustained, selective and transitional attention of the combined practice group (physical rehabilitation) have significantly lower error than another group. In the deletion response variable, the mean score of the withdrawal response in the children of the combined exercise group was significantly lower than that of the control group (p <0.05). Conclusion: Overall, the results of this study showed that cognitive rehabilitation and physical trainings can improve attention in children with overactive disorders. But the combination of physical trainings with rehabilitation trainings can improve the types of attention in children with ADHD.