Hyperacusis in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Preliminary Study

Massimo Ralli,Roberta Penge,Giancarlo Altissimi,Francesca Yoshie Russo,Maria Gloria Cammeresi,Maria Romani,Alessio Zodda,Maria Patrizia Orlando,Rosaria Turchetta

doi:10.3390/ijerph17093045

Abstract

The association between hyperacusis and developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders has been extensively reported in the literature; however, the specific prevalence of hyperacusis in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has never been investigated. In this preliminary study, we evaluated the presence of hyperacusis in a small sample of children affected by ADHD compared to a control group of healthy children. Thirty normal hearing children with a diagnosis of ADHD and 30 children matched for sex and age were enrolled in the study. All children underwent audiological and multidisciplinary neuropsychiatric evaluation. Hearing was assessed using pure tone audiometry and immittance test; ADHD was diagnosed following the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder criteria. Hyperacusis was assessed through the administration of a questionnaire to parents and an interview with children. Hyperacusis was diagnosed in 11 children (36.7%) in the study group and in four children (13.3%) in the control group; this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.03). The preliminary results of this study suggest a higher presence of hyperacusis in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder compared to control children. More studies on larger samples are necessary to confirm these results.

Highlights

Hypersensitivity to sound is described as a reduced tolerance to sounds of average intensity, sometimes accompanied by painful sensitivity to ordinary environmental sounds, with perceptual, psychological and social dimensions [1]
Children were divided into two groups: a study group of children with neuropsychiatric diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) combined type (n = 30), and a control group of healthy children matched for age and sex (n = 30)
Thirty children with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD and 30 children matched for sex and age were enrolled in the study

Summary

Introduction

Hypersensitivity to sound (hyperacusis) is described as a reduced tolerance to sounds of average intensity, sometimes accompanied by painful sensitivity to ordinary environmental sounds, with perceptual, psychological and social dimensions [1]. The causes of hyperacusis are still debated; recent imaging studies indicate the hyperexcitability of specific brain areas as a common finding in these patients [2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Available evidence suggests that hyperacusis could originate from functional alterations in the central nervous system correlated to generalized hyperactivity following an increase in the gain of auditory and extra-auditory pathways and to greater anxiety or emotional response to sound [5,7,9,10]. Public Health 2020, 17, 3045; doi:10.3390/ijerph17093045 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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Conclusion