AUTHOR=Mellahn Olivia J. , Knott Rachael , Tiego Jeggan , Kallady Kathryn , Williams Katrina , Bellgrove Mark A. , Johnson Beth P. 

TITLE=Understanding the Diversity of Pharmacotherapeutic Management of ADHD With Co-occurring Autism: An Australian Cross-Sectional Survey

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.914668

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2022.914668

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Objectives</title><p>Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co-occurs with other neurodevelopmental diagnoses, such as autism spectrum disorder (autism), which can make clinical decision making around symptom management challenging for clinicians. There is a paucity of research examining pharmacotherapeutic management of children who have ADHD with co-occurring diagnoses. We aimed to report on the co-occurring diagnoses and symptom profile of children, and report on medication use, stratified by ADHD, autism and ADHD + autism diagnoses.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods and Materials</title><p>Caregivers of 505 children (2–18 years) with ADHD (<italic>n</italic> = 239), autism (<italic>n</italic> = 117), and co-occurring ADHD + autism (<italic>n</italic> = 149) completed a questionnaire on current medication use and clinical rating scales about their child's symptoms, as part of a broader project investigating diagnosis and management of symptoms in children with ADHD or autism.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>The parents of the ADHD group reported a higher proportion of their children had learning disorders (17.15%) and speech and language disorders (4.60%) compared to the parents of the autism and ADHD + autism groups. Parents of the ADHD + autism group reported higher proportions of intellectual disability (5.37%), oppositional defiant disorder (20.13%), anxiety (38.93%), depression (6.71%) and genetic conditions (3.36%) in their children, in comparison to the parents of the ADHD and autism groups. Children with ADHD were reported to be taking a higher proportion of psychotropic medication (90%), followed by ADHD + autism (86%) and autism (39%). The parents of children with ADHD + autism reported a higher proportion of non-stimulant ADHD medication (25.5%), antipsychotic (18.79%), antidepressant (22.15%) and melatonin (31.54%) use by their children, compared to the parents of the ADHD and autism groups.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusions</title><p>A similar proportion of children with ADHD + autism and ADHD were reported to be taking medication. However, the types of medication taken were different, as expected with reported co-occurring diagnoses. The complexity of symptoms and diagnoses in ADHD + autism warrants targeted research to optimize management and therapeutic outcomes.</p></sec>