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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

No evidence of sleep apnea in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Jacky Cooper1, Louise Tyler, I Wallace

  • 1Peninsula Private Sleep Laboratory, Darley Road, Manly, NSW, Australia, 2095.

Clinical Pediatrics
|September 21, 2004
PubMed

Insights

This study found no evidence that sleep apnea or sleep disturbances contribute to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children. Polysomnography results were normal in children with ADHD compared to controls.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Sleep Medicine
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder in children.
  • Sleep disturbances, including sleep apnea, are sometimes suspected as contributing factors to ADHD symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether sleep apnea or other sleep abnormalities contribute to the behavioral symptoms observed in children with ADHD.

Main Methods:

  • Nocturnal polysomnography (PSG) and psychometric tests were used to compare 18 children diagnosed with ADHD and 20 age-matched controls (ages 4-16).
  • PSG measured arousal indexes and apnea/hypopnea indexes.
  • Psychometric tests confirmed ADHD diagnosis and normal cognitive function in controls.

Main Results:

  • Both ADHD and control groups exhibited normal arousal indexes (9.8 ± 3.9/hr and 10.2 ± 3.1/hr, respectively).
  • Apnea/hypopnea indexes were also normal in both groups (ADHD: 1.0 ± 2.4/hr; controls: 0.6 ± 0.9/hr).
  • Sleep architecture showed no significant differences between the ADHD and control groups.

Conclusions:

  • The study found no evidence of sleep abnormalities, such as sleep apnea, that could explain or contribute to the disorder in children with ADHD.
  • Results suggest that sleep apnea is unlikely to be a primary cause of ADHD symptoms in this pediatric population.

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