Psychiatric disorders and behavioral characteristics of pediatric patients with both epilepsy

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Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) coexisting with epilepsy is poorly understood; thus, we compared the clinical correlates and psychiatric comorbid conditions of 36 children with epilepsy and ADHD aged 6 to 17 years enrolled in an ADHD treatment trial, with those reported in the literature on children with ADHD without epilepsy.

Methods
Measures included the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (KSADS), the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), and the Scales for Independent Behavior—Revised (SIB-R).

Results
Mean IQ was 86 ± 19, and SIB-R Standard Score was 72 ± 26. The ADHD-Combined subtype, composed of both inattentive and hyperactive symptoms, was most frequent (58%). Sixty-one percent exhibited a comorbid disorder, including anxiety disorders (36%) and oppositional defiant disorder (31%).

Conclusions
Comorbidity in ADHD with epilepsy is similar to that in ADHD without epilepsy reported in the literature. These preliminary data argue that the pathophysiology of ADHD has common components in both populations.

Keywords: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; Epilepsy; Comorbid psychiatric disorders; Anxiety disorders; Etiology

Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich, Alice Dodds, Jane Whitney, Carlene MacMillan, Deborah Waber, Stephen V. Faraone, Katrina Boyer, Christine Mrakotsky, David DeMaso, Blaise Bourgeois and Joseph Biederman

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