Children with epilepsy are more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia.
This page gives a brief overview of both disorders, including types, characteristics, possible causes and the numbers of children likely to be affected.
It also covers implications for medication and diagnosis for those with epilepsy and ADHD.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Some children show abnormally high levels of inattention and/or hyperactivity (being overactive) and impulsive behaviour (acting quickly without thinking about consequences).
If so, they may be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
There are three types of ADHD:
- Predominantly inattentive type
- Predominantly hyperactive–impulsive type
- Combined inattentive and hyperactive–impulsive type
To find out more about common symptoms of ADHD, please go to Symptoms: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
While ADHD affects 3–5% of school-age children, as many as 20−40% of children with epilepsy also have ADHD.
The first type of ADHD, predominantly inattentive, is thought to be more common in children with epilepsy.
The reasons why more children with epilepsy have ADHD are thought to include:
- The side effects of anti-seizure medications, including inattention, hyperactivity and mood problems
- A common biological and/or genetic problem that causes both ADHD and epilepsy
- The effect of seizures and/or ongoing abnormal electrical activity in the brain
- Psychosocial issues stemming from having epilepsy
Some medications can affect how often seizures happen, so when doctors are prescribing, they need to take into account the pros and cons of each medication.
In cases where seizure control is poor and a child has a history of tonic-clonic seizures, how often they have seizures should be monitored closely in the months following the introduction of stimulants to manage ADHD.
Some of the side effects of anti-seizure medications, such as hyperactivity, inattention and aggression, can resemble some of the symptoms seen in ADHD.
Also, some seizure symptoms resemble behaviours seen in ADHD, and some symptoms seen in ADHD resemble symptoms of seizures.
These reasons may lead to a delay in diagnosing either epilepsy or ADHD, or even misdiagnosis.
For example, absence seizures are frequently misdiagnosed as ADHD.
Developmental coordination disorder (DCD)
Developmental coordination disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia, is another disorder seen in children with epilepsy.
DCD affects the coordination skills needed for balance, playing sports and tasks such as driving or riding a bike, and even fine motor skills, e.g. writing or using small objects.
It’s thought DCD affects up to 10% of the population, and 2% severely. Males are four times more likely to be affected than females.
In most cases, we don’t know yet what causes DCD. Current research suggests that it may be neurones in the brain not responding properly or developing differently.
As well as being seen in people with epilepsy, there may also be an overlap between DCD and people with ADHD, learning difficulties, dyslexia and autism.
DCD and SeLECTS
Some research also suggests that children with the common epilepsy syndrome SeLECTS may be much more likely to have DCD than children without that syndrome.
More research is needed to find out why some children with SeLECTS also have DCD.
Find out about treatment and support of co-occurring conditions with epilepsy.
