Risperidone treatment for ADHD in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Children and adolescents with bipolar disorder are also at high risk of having comorbid attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The objective of this study was to estimate improvement in ADHD symptoms in children with bipolar disorder.


METHODS
This was an open-label, study of risperidone monotherapy for the treatment of pediatric bipolar disorder. Thirty-one children and adolescents 4-15 years of age (7.2 +/- 2.8 years) of both sexes (71%, N = 22 male) with pediatric bipolar disorder (YMRS score = 32.9 +/- 8.8) and ADHD (ADHD-RS score = 37.9 +/- 8.9) were included in these analyses.


RESULTS
Improvement in ADHD symptoms was contingent on improvement in manic symptoms. Although both hyperactive/impulsive (-7.5 +/- 5.5.6, p < 0.05) and inattentive (-6.8 +/- 5.0, p < 0.05) ADHD symptoms were significantly improved with risperidone, improvement was modest, and only 29% of subjects (N = 6) showed a 30% reduction in ADHD rating scale scores and had a CGI-I </= 2.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that that treatment with risperidone is associated with tangible but generally modest improvement of symptoms of ADHD in children with bipolar disorder.
Biederman
Joseph
J
Pediatric Psychopharmacology Research Department, Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, MA, USA. jbiederman@partners.org
Hammerness
Paul
P
Doyle
Robert
R
Joshi
Gagan
G
Aleardi
Megan
M
Mick
Eric
E