[Inadequacy of the "hyperkinetic syndrome" diagnosis and practical consequences]

Hyperkinetic behavior has been defined and is easy to diagnose. It occurs in a "pure" form as a combination of the major symptoms of hyperkinetic syndrome. More frequently, however, the behavior is associated with additional behavior problems or is part of other psychopathological syndromes, e.g. conduct disorder. Intermediate forms and subgroups have begun to emerge, each with its own course and prognosis. But so far classification systems have not adopted further distinctions. Our own observations indicate that in practice the term hyperkinetic syndrome is often used without further differentiation or is even applied to cases belonging in other diagnostic categories. We speculate that the availability of drug treatment is the explanation for the widespread use of the undifferentiated diagnostic term.