English

Abstract

Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are both severely impairing neurodevelopmental disorders. Interest in the co-occurance of Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder(ADHD)-like symptoms and Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has grown in the last decade. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are frequently found to manifest symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsiveness, which are the cardinal symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of the present work is to review and critically discuss the studies reporting the co-occurrence of ADHD-like symptoms in individuals with formal diagnosis of ASD and the effectiveness of medications for ADHD symptoms in the ASD. Materials and methods We carried out a literature research and study selection by searching for published biomedical literature in PubMed. Results From a pool of 321 potentially relevant references we selected only reviews published during the past five years, focusing on co-occurrence of ASD and ADHD and their treatment. Our search yielded a total of 64 reviews that matched our search criteria. Conclusion DSM 5 currently permits co-diagnosis of ASD and ADHD. This option will facilitate new research approaches and will also have therapeutic implications. As shown in our review further research is needed to understand about developmental trajectories of the co-occurring disorders and to understand how severity of symptoms in one disorder may influence the emergence of symptoms in the other disorder. Individuals with ASD plus ADHD are more impaired than individuals with only ASD. This finding suggests that individuals with co-occurrence of the two disorders may need different treatment methods or intensities than those with only ASD. There is no consensus on the use drugs for individuals with ASD plus ADHD. The limited number of studies and the heterogeneity of results require further and larger RCTs for the assessment of the efficacy and tolerability of psychostimulants.