2822 – Impulsivity and attention deficit-hyperactivity symptoms among female patients with obesity

Abstract

The relationship between obesity and Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) has been studied in recent years. It was indicated that the proportion of ADHD in children with obesity was high and body mass index (BMI) of children with ADHD was also higher than healthy controls [1]. Impulsivity as a trait was found to be associated with obesity and predictor of future weight gain among children with obesity (2,3). From here, we aim to evaluate the impulsivity and ADHD symptoms among adults with obesity. 32 female patients with obesity (BMI>30) who admitted to the diet clinic of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Medical Faculty were recruited for the study. ADHD symptoms were evaluated with Wender Utah Rating Scale(WURS) while impulsivity was measured with Barratt Impulsiveness Scale(BIS). Mean age, BMI, WURS and BIS scores of the patiens were 35.3 ± 10.8 years, 39.2 ± 6.2 kg., 35.8 ± 19.2 and 61.3 ± 10.4, respectively. 42.3% of the patiens had child and adolescent ADHD symptoms and one third still had ADHD symptoms in adulthood (12.5% inattentive, 9.4% hyperactive-impulsive, 6.2% combined). BIS total(p+0.003), BIS attention(p < 0.01) and self control(p = 0.004) sub-item scores were positively correlated with WURS total scores. Our findings were consistent the literature that patients with obesity were more impulsive than healthy controls(4). ADHD and impulsivity might have implications for weight regulation. Our findings may provide a frame work for future studies with bigger sample sizes aiming to detect the relationship between impulsivity and ADHD symptoms in patients with obesity.