Background and objectives:

Children and adolescents with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder demonstrate a developmental delay in emotional and social functions, sleep difficulties, enuresis, and/or paroxysms in electroencephalographic measurements. The purpose of the study is to know if there is an association between comorbidities and ADHD. The second objective was to compare the results with previous studies in different countries.

Material and methods:

Retrospective analysis of a clinical database (CDB) was conducted identifying 1049 Spanish children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD according to DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) in the Department of Pediatrics of the Hospital Universitario Dr. Peset.

Results:

In the 297 CDB aged 6 - 16 years children included, the comorbidities were statistically significant. This medical conditions in Spanish children with ADHD coexist outside of Spain and are statistically significant in all aspects analyzed except in anxiety, Asperger's syndrome and enuresis.

Conclusions:

Our results support the association between comorbidities and ADHD. It is important for professionals to make sure that they identify different comorbidities during the diagnostic process as during the clinical follow-up. The article is recommended to teachers, therapists and health professionals, for adopting a proactive and intermodal team approach in the detection and treatment of comorbidities in children and youth.

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