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. 2022 Feb 28:13:837424.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.837424. eCollection 2022.

ASD and ADHD Comorbidity: What Are We Talking About?

Camille Hours  1 , Christophe Recasens  1 , Jean-Marc Baleyte  1
Affiliations

ASD and ADHD Comorbidity: What Are We Talking About?

Camille Hours et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

According to the scientific literature, 50 to 70% of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also present with comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). From a clinical perspective, this high rate of comorbidity is intriguing. What is the real significance of this dual diagnosis? Is ADHD in fact always present in such cases? Might the attentional impairment reported among our ASD patients actually be a distinct trait of their ASD-namely, impaired joint attention-rather than an ADHD attention deficit? Could their agitation be the consequence of this joint attention impairment or related to a physical restlessness etiologically very different from the agitation typical of ADHD? The neurobiological reality of ASD-ADHD comorbidity is a subject of debate, and amphetamine-based treatment can have paradoxical or undesirable effects in the ASD population. Consequently, does a dual diagnosis, notwithstanding its currency in the literature, prevent us from shedding sufficient light on major physiopathologic questions raised by the clinical picture of ASD?

Keywords: agitation; attention; attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder; autism; autism spectrum disorder; comorbidity; restlessness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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