TITLE:
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults with High-Functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorders in Japan
AUTHORS:
Yasuko Takanashi, Hirobumi Mashiko, Hirohide Yokokawa, Yoko Kawasaki, Shuntaro Itagaki, Hiromichi Ishikawa, Norihiro Miyashita, Yasuaki Hayashi, Asako Kudo, Kentaro Oga, Rieko Matsuura, Shin-Ichi Niwa
KEYWORDS:
Adults, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), High-Functioning, Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD), Self-Report
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.4 No.4,
October
22,
2014
ABSTRACT: Aims: This study was designed to verify the proportion of Japanese adults
with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) who met the diagnostic criteria
(other than E) for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision
(DSM-IV-TR). Furthermore, we examined to what extent adults with PDD think that
they exhibit ADHD symptoms. Methods: We developed an original Japanese
self-report questionnaire to determine the presence or absence of 18 symptoms
from the diagnostic criteria for ADHD in the DSM-IV-TR. We administered the
questionnaire to 64 adults with high-functioning PDD (45 men and 19 women) and
21 adults with ADHD (10 men and 11 women), aged 18 to 59 years, with a
full-scale intelligence quotient ≥75. Target patients were evaluated for ADHD
by their psychiatrists. Results: Twenty-nine (45.3%) adults with PDD also had
ADHD. The percentage of these adults who had over six perceived inattention
symptoms from the DSM-IV-TR was 96.6%. The percentage of these adults who had
over six perceived hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms was 65.5%. Thirty-five (55.6%) adults with PDD
responded that they were aware of having ADHD symptoms at the level of the
relevant diagnostic criteria. Conclusions: The present study is the first to
examine the frequency of objective and perceived ADHD symptoms in adults with
PDD in Japan. Our results show that both objective and perceived ADHD symptoms
frequently appear in a large number of adults with PDD. This suggests that it
is necessary to attend to concomitant ADHD symptoms in the medical care of
adults with PDD.