Brief research report 55 Quality of life of Israeli adults with borderline intelligence quotient and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Arie Rimmerman a , Oren Yurkevich a,b , Moshe Birger c , Fisal Azaiza a and Shlomo Elyashar d The quality of life of 127 Israeli young adults diagnosed as having borderline intelligence quotient and attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and living in community residences, was studied with respect to personal, disability and social ecology data. Overall, quality of life was associated with studying in inclusive education, total attention-deficit disorder symptomatology score, monthly income, participation in leisure activities and having a personal friend. Two significant predictors of quality of life were attention-deficit disorder symptomatology score and monthly income. Additional analysis indicates that among younger residents the two significant predictors were inclusive education and high monthly income, whereas the predictors for older residents were low level of medical disability and low attention-deficit disorder symptomatology score. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research 30:55–60  c 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research 2007, 30:55–60 Keywords: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, borderline intelligence quotient, quality of life a School of Social Work, Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, b Kibbutzim Rehabilitation Center, Herzelia, Israel, c Beer Yaakov Psychiatric Hospital, Beer Yaakov and d Director of Rehabilitation, Ministry of Social Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel Correspondence and requests for reprints to Professor Arie Rimmerman, Richard Crossman Professor of Social Welfare and Social Planning, School of Social Work, Social Welfare and Health Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel 31905 Tel: +972 4 8249 235; fax: +972 4 828 8275; e-mail: rimmer@research.haifa.ac.il Received 8 June 2006 Accepted 10 September 2006 Introduction Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood neuro-psychiatric disorder affecting 3–10% of children that often remains unrecognized or ‘hidden’ in adulthood (Wender et al., 2001). While longitudinal studies of children and adolescents with ADHD consistently show persistence into adulthood, the degree of persistence varies (Hill and Schoener, 1996). Barkley et al. (2002) showed that ADHD persistence at ages 19–25 years was rare in self-report (5%) but substantially higher in parental reports (46%). This discrepancy suggests that follow-up studies that used self-report as the standard for persistent symptoms may have underestimated adult ADHD. A re-evaluation of the age-dependent decline of ADHD was performed to clarify the persistence of ADHD symptoms into adulthood and to provide a better picture for the prognosis of the syndrome. Twenty-six studies were evaluated to determine both symptomatic and syndromatic persistence (Biederman et al., 2002). Statis- tical analysis was used to create an exponential model predicting the rate of persistence as a function of age. The model showed a good fit for both full diagnosis and residual diagnosis. While a steep decline with age was found using full diagnostic criteria (persistence < 20% at 30 years), a residual diagnosis fell less rapidly and more than 50% of patients had impairing symptoms at 30 years of age. The core symptoms of ADHD – hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity – change as the child grows older. Research suggests that hyperactivity declines with age, attention problems remain fairly constant and executive function problems increase in adulthood. Co-existing psychiatric conditions, learning disabilities and social difficulties are common. The persistence of ADHD symptoms has only recently become widely recognized by mental health professionals. Adults with ADHD are often bored with tedious, repetitive tasks. They may also have trouble with planning, organization and procrastination. Impulsivity can lead to frequent job changes, troubled romantic relationships, financial problems and a tendency to interrupt others (Feifel, 1996; Manor, 2002). There are several conditions that commonly accompany ADHD, among them learning disabilities, poor peer relationships and social skills deficits, communication disorders, other disruptive behavior disorders, substance abuse, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, tics and Tourette’s syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders, and borderline cognitive and intellectual ability (Weiss et al., 1999). Unfortunately, the last condition has received little attention in the literature. People with borderline intelligence quotient (IQ) have significant academic skills deficits that manifest themselves as a severe discrepancy between measured intellectual functioning and academic achievement (Dunham et al., 2000). 0342-5282  c 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Copyright © Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.