Researchers discover a link between autism spectrum disorder and children diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
According to HealthDay.com, new study findings suggests kids with ADHD are 20 times more likely to exhibit traits of autism. The findings were published in the journal Pediatrics.
"One of every five ADHD kids in the study exhibited signs of autism such as slow language development, difficulty interacting with others and problems with emotional control," said study co-author Dr. Joseph Biederman, director of the pediatric psychopharmacology unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Children with ADHD specifically lack the ability to "plan, organize and conceptualize future action," according to HealthDay. Less than 1 percent of kids without ADHD exhibit traits linked to autism. Kids with ADHD who exhibit autistic traits also experience more social problems.
"These children are not having the full diagnosis of autism, but they have symptoms of autism," Biederman said. "It may be important to screen children with ADHD for autistic traits because they may need more support, particularly in the educational and interpersonal domains."
HealthDay offered the following information about the study:
The study included 242 kids aged 6 to 18 with ADHD as well as a 227-member "control" group of kids without ADHD. The children were drawn from an existing large-scale sample pool that excluded any kids who had been diagnosed with autism.
The children and their parents filled out a series of questionnaires to grade their behavior and compare it to generally accepted definitions of autistic traits.
The researchers found that 18 percent of kids with ADHD exhibited some behaviors that are common in autism, compared with 0.87 percent of kids from the control group.
"Those with autism traits have greater severity of symptoms and dysfunction," said Dr. Alice Mao, an associate professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, not involved with the study. "Certainly it would be useful to screen kids with ADHD who have autism traits to see which kids may need more help socially, as well as to make sure they don't have lower intellectual functioning. You may be able to give other treatments that would be helpful in terms of improving their functioning."
