Clinical and neuropsychological assessment of attention and ADHD comorbidity in a sample of children and adolescents with idiopathic epilepsy.
Children with epilepsy present significant problems concerning attention and comorbidity with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).


OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of attention complaints, ADHD diagnosis and attention profile in a sample of children and adolescents with idiopathic epilepsy.


METHODS
36 children and adolescents with idiopathic epilepsy and 37 genre and age matched healthy controls underwent several procedures to diagnose their neuropsychological profile and comorbidity with ADHD.


RESULTS
The prevalence of ADHD was higher in patients with epilepsy [χ2= 4.1, p = 0.043, 6 (16.7%) vs 1 (2.7%)], with worse results in attention related WISC items and factors in patients with epilepsy comparing to the controls, but not between patients with and without ADHD. Clinical characteristics did not influence those results.


CONCLUSIONS
This study found a greater prevalence of problems wih attention in pediatric patients with idiopathic epilepsy, but not a distinct profile between those with or without ADHD.
Departamento de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Celia Regina Carvalho Machado da
CR
Costa
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Guilherme de Macêdo
Gde M
Oliveira
Departamento de Psiquiatria, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Marleide da Mota
Mda M
Gomes
Departamento de Neurologia, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil.
Heber de Souza
Hde S
Maia Filho
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012494:Sampling Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric