Seizures in children with epilepsy and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Epilepsy is an important disorder that is sometimes accompanied by inattention problems. This study explored the features of seizures in children with epilepsy, with or without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Between January 2017 and January 2018, data records of children with epilepsy aged 5-18 years admitted to hospital were retrospectively collected. SPSS 17.0 was used for analyses and P < 0.05 was accepted as significant.

Of 301 patients with epilepsy, 32 of them had ADHD. Median age at diagnosis of epilepsy in the epilepsy + ADHD group was lower than in the epilepsy alone group (6 vs 8 years; z = -2.989, P = 0.003). The two groups were similar in terms of duration of epilepsy, seizure types and features of complicated versus non-complicated epilepsy, number of anti-epileptic drugs (AED) used (for all, P > 0.05). The epilepsy + ADHD group had a significantly higher prevalence of intellectual disability (31.3% vs 12.6%; χ² (1) = 7.9, P = 0.014) and specific learning disorder (12.5% vs 1.9%; χ² (1) = 11.1, P = 0.009) than the epilepsy alone group (χ² (1) = 11.1, P = 0.009). ADHD medication use was identified in 68.8% of children in the epilepsy + ADHD group.

Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder was identified in 11.8% of 5-18-year-old children (32/301) with epilepsy in a 1 year period. ADHD is more frequent in children with epilepsy in childhood (5-11 years of age). Epilepsy diagnosis is more frequent in younger children with ADHD. Children with epilepsy and ADHD, also have a significantly higher prevalence of intellectual disability and specific learning disorder. Younger children diagnosed with epilepsy should be carefully monitored for ADHD.