Our aim in this study was to investigate the relation between type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM) and attention deficithyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and severity of ADHD in children and adolescents. Cases (n:80) and healthy children (n:80) aged 6-18 and followed-up with Type 1 DM were included in the study. Psychiatric evaluation in the light of DSM-5 (The Diagnostic andStatistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition diagnostic criteria), an information form, the ADHD section of the Schedulefor Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children (6-18) (K-SADS-PL-T), the DuPaul ADHD Rating Scale, theConners Teaching Rating Scale (CTRS), and the Conners Parental Rating Scale (CPRS) was applied to the participants. The twogroups were compared in terms of ADHD and ADHD severity. Sixteen of the cases with type 1 DM, and 5 of the control groupwere diagnosed with ADHD, the rate of ADHD being higher in the case group (chi-square p<0.05). A statistically significantdifference was determined between the ADHD scale scores. Mean HbA1c in cases diagnosed with ADHD in the case group washigher than in undiagnosed cases (p=0.020). All scale parameters, apart from HbA1c and the attention part of the CTRS, werehigher in cases diagnosed with ADHD in the case group than in cases not diagnosed with ADHD(p=0.020). Duration of exposure todiabetes, and numbers of hospitalizations and ketoacidosis attacks were higher in cases with ADHD in the case group than in thosewithout ADHD (p<0.05). There was a significant difference in terms of ADHD between the control and case groups in our study,and there is a probable association between ADHD and type 1 DM. Further, more detailed studies are needed to provide a clearexplanation of that relation.
DOĞAN et al. (Wed,) studied this question.