ADHD is Common in Adults

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has historically been linked to childhood and adolescence. However, more recently a growing body of evidence demonstrates that ADHD is a lifelong disorder that is common in adults. Numerous pediatric studies have shown that sleep problems are a common complaint in childhood ADHD, where increased movement in sleep is commonplace and sleep efficiency and percentage of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is reduced.

A recent study published in the journal Sleep (Vol. 31; No. 3, 2008, p. 375) assessed the objective and subjective sleep parameters in adults with ADHD medicated with Methylphenidate (MPH) compared to non-medicated controls.

Subjects Tested Two Nights in a Sleep Lab and Completed Questionnaires

The study was authored by Dr. Esther Sobanski, MD and colleagues at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany and focused on 34 non-medicated ADHD adults and 34 age and gender-matched controls. During the study, ten ADHD adults were treated with MPH and sleep parameters were compared to non-medicated ADHD subjects and controls. All participants slept two nights in a sleep laboratory and answered sleep questionnaires.

Poor Sleep Recorded in Adults with ADHD

Compared to the control group, it took the ADHD adults longer to fall asleep and once they were asleep, their sleep efficiency was reduced and they had more frequent awakenings, In addition, their sleep architecture was altered in that Stage 1 sleep (light sleep) was higher and their percentage of REM sleep (dream sleep) was lower compared to controls. The questionnaire data supported the objective measurements, where the ADHD group complained more about their sleep latency as well as their nighttime awakenings.

Treatment with Methylphenidate (MPH) Improves Sleep Quality

Ten ADHD subjects were treated with a stimulant medication (MPH) for nearly a month prior to the sleep studies. These ADHD patients reported less difficulty falling asleep, fewer nighttime awakenings, and significantly more restorative sleep with fewer awakenings in the two weeks prior to laboratory testing. This indicates that stimulant medication helps ADHD subjects fall asleep faster and maintain more consolidation of their sleep patterns. In turn, their subjective assessment of sleep improved.

One of the First Studies to Address Sleep Problems in Adults with ADHD

Issues with poor sleep quality and ADHD appear to continue from childhood into adult life. This study shows that medications such as MPH can help adults with ADHD get a good nights’ sleep. Of course this study was not designed to address the well documented association of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), or other sleep disorders noted to occur in patients with ADHD.