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. 2024 Sep 9;24(1).
doi: 10.1515/sjpain-2024-0015. eCollection 2024 Jan 1.

ADHD-pain: Characteristics of chronic pain and association with muscular dysregulation in adults with ADHD

Anne Beate Helseth Udal  1 , Liv Larsen Stray  2 , Torstein Stray  2 , Thomas Bjerregaard Bertelsen  2 , Are Hugo Pripp  3 , Jens Egeland  4
Affiliations
Free article

ADHD-pain: Characteristics of chronic pain and association with muscular dysregulation in adults with ADHD

Anne Beate Helseth Udal et al. Scand J Pain. .
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: A high incidence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been reported in chronic pain (ChP) patients. Furthermore, an association between ChP and muscular dysregulation has been reported in adults with ADHD. The present study investigated whether ADHD was more prevalent among psychiatric outpatients with ChP than those without ChP, and if there was an association between ChP, muscular dysregulation and characteristics of pain in patients with ADHD.

Methods: One-hundred and twenty-one individuals remitted to an outpatient psychiatry unit took part in this naturalistic epidemiological cross-sectional study. They were assessed with a pain self-report form (localization, intensity, and onset) and a test of muscle dysregulation (the Motor Function Neurological Assessment). Prevalence of ADHD among patients with ChP, as well as the qualitative characteristics of ChP within the ADHDgroup are reported. Both ChP and pain intensity correlated with muscular dysregulation through Spearman's rho analysis. Additionally, the relationship between various diagnostic categories (ADHD, affective disorders, anxiety, or personality disorders) and incidence of axial pain was evaluated in logistic regression.

Results: ADHD was significantly more prevalent in patients with ChP, than in patients without ChP. In the ADHD group, ChP and pain intensity was associated with muscular dysregulation, particularly with high muscle tone. ChP was more axial and widespread, than for the patients without ADHD, and started at an early age. ADHD diagnosis predicted axial pain, whereas affective-, anxiety-, or personality disorders did not.

Conclusions: The study suggests that ChP in ADHD is associated with muscular dysregulation and is qualitatively different from ChP in psychiatric patients without ADHD. These findings may lead to further understanding of potential mechanisms involved in ADHD and ChP, and in turn to new treatment strategies for both disorders.

Keywords: ADHD; chronic pain; muscle tonus.

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