Sleep disorders in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder--results of a polysomnographic study

Frolich J, Lehmkuhl G, Wiater A.

Klinik und Poliklinik fur Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie des Kindes- und Jugendalters der Universitat zu Koln. dr.jan.froelich@t-online.de

OBJECTIVES: We report results of a polysomnographic study carried out with children aged 6 to 12 years with either ADHD or a sleep disorder. The study focussed on whether the sleep structure and architecture of n = 36 ADHD children with and without sleep disorders differed from that of either n=15 children with sleep disorders or n=87 children without sleep disorders. Moreover, we assessed whether there was an increased risk for co-morbid sleep-related breathing disorders among ADHD children. METHODS: All children underwent polysomnography in a paediatric clinic. Principal variables of the sleep structure and architecture as well as cardiorespirographic measures were analysed. RESULTS: Our findings demonstrate that sleep problems in children with ADHD seem to be unspecific concurrent symptoms since the sleep structure of sleep-disordered ADHD children and children with sleep disorders was similar. Only minor differences were found between non-sleep-disturbed ADHD children and healthy children without sleep problems. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that sleep problems in ADHD are independent co-morbid symptoms without any pathogenetic relationship to vigilance functions in ADHD. The cardiorespirographic analyses showed that a subgroup of ADHD children with sleep problems may be at increased risk for co-morbid sleep-related breathing disorder. This finding is potentially important for differential diagnostic considerations in ADHD.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=16097268&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_DocSum