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Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
10:02

Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Published on: March 12, 2020

Sleep disorders and daytime sleepiness in children with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder

Natali Golan1, Eli Shahar, Sarit Ravid

  • 1Sleep Laboratory, Rambam Medical Center and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.

Sleep
|May 6, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) experience daytime sleepiness, which may explain why stimulant medications help. Sleep disorders like sleep-disordered breathing are common in ADHD and should be investigated.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

  • Attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in children.
  • Stimulant medications are effective treatments for ADHD, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood.
  • Hyperactivity in ADHD may mask underlying somnolence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To objectively investigate daytime sleepiness in children diagnosed with ADHD.
  • To explore the relationship between ADHD and objective sleep measures.
  • To identify potential sleep disorders contributing to ADHD symptoms.

Main Methods:

  • A single-blind comparative study was conducted at a university medical center.
  • Participants included 34 children with ADHD and 32 matched controls.
  • All participants underwent polysomnography and a multiple sleep latency test (MSLT).

Main Results:

  • Children with ADHD exhibited significantly greater daytime sleepiness (lower MSLT scores) compared to controls.
  • Fifty percent of children with ADHD showed signs of sleep-disordered breathing, versus 22% in controls.
  • Fifteen percent of ADHD children had periodic limb movements during sleep, compared to none in controls.

Conclusions:

  • Children with ADHD demonstrate objective daytime somnolence.
  • Daytime sleepiness in ADHD may contribute to the efficacy of stimulant medications.
  • Sleep-disordered breathing and periodic limb movement disorder are prevalent in children with ADHD and warrant clinical attention.
Abstract

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