The Program on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (PRODAH) is an area for teaching, research and clinical work with patients suffering from the disorder. The program is linked both to the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Division at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre and to the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a worldwide child, adolescent and adult mental health problem. Symptoms are divided in two areas: attention and motor activity/impulse control. International and Brazilian investigations document a prevalence of ADHD between 3 to 6% in school age children and 2,5% of adults. This estimate suggests that for every classroom of thirty students, one or two would be diagnosed with ADHD and half of this child will carry the disorder through adult life.

Social and school functioning is clearly impaired in children, adolescents and adults with ADHD. This mental health problem is associated with low grades, school failure, suspensions and expulsions, difficult family and peer relations, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, conduct and delinquency problems, drug abuse and experimentation, car accidents, speeding tickets, as well as difficulties in adult life relationships, such as marriage and work.