title: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children with benign epilepsy and their siblings.
abstract: This prospective study explores the prevalence and characteristics of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children with benign epilepsy, compared with its prevalence in their siblings. Among 40 patients with benign epilepsy, 28 (70%) were diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: 19 with the inattentive type, one with the hyperactive type, and eight with the combined type. In the control group of 12 siblings, only two (16.7%) were diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (P<0.03). A trend toward an increased risk for attentional difficulties was evident in children whose seizures were more resistant and required more than one antiepileptic drug for seizure control. Children with more epileptiform features in their electroencephalograms were also more subject to signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Larger scale studies are required to validate our findings.
authors.affiliation: Child Neurology and Development Center, Department of Pediatrics, Carmel Medical Center and Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Odeya
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bennett-Back
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keren
authors.forename: Nathanel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zelnik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D035781:Siblings