CHILDREN WITH ADHD MAY SUFFER FROM MEMORY DEFICITS

Some children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also have problems with memory, according to a study by researchers at the University of Iowa (www.uiowa.edu) in Iowa City. These memory problems are unrelated to ADHD and require separate assessment.

      "Probably the most prominent finding of the study was that those children who had ADHD without diagnosed learning problems also had memory deficits," said Lynn C. Richman, professor of pediatric psychology at the University of Iowa and the study's lead investigator.

      Memory problems reported involved short-term memory skills, such as remembering math facts, spelling, words and other reading-related tasks. These memory deficits may be wrongly attributed to the inattention associated with ADHD, rather than seen as a separate problem, such as a learning disability, she said.

      The study involved testing short-term memory of two groups of 40 children. In one group were children diagnosed with ADHD, which is characterized by inattentive and impulsive behavior. Children in the other group had been diagnosed with undifferentiated attention deficit disorder (UADD), a subset of ADHD marked only by inattention.

      The two groups of children were then tested to see if they had reading disabilities. Results revealed that children in the ADHD group, whether or not they had a learning disability, had significantly more memory deficits than those in the UADD group.

      Because no known drug exists to improve short-term memory, doctors rely instead on visualization, which Richman called "very effective," as well as memory strategy training. Such training includes rhymes to aid in memory, such as spelling rule of "i before e except after c," said Richman.

      Dr. James Perrin, associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Boston and co-chair of the committee on quality improvement, subcommittee on ADHD at Harvard, called the findings "interesting," though he added he was not surprised by them. He said it was "important to realize that just a small number of children were studied."

      One problem, said Richman, is that it can be difficult for parents and teachers to distinguish between behavior due to ADHD and a learning disability. "Parents often just think the child's not listening to them and may even punish the child for not doing what he or she is told," said Richman.

      Perrin agreed that this was a significant issue and urged parents to avoid punishing children based on behavior resulting from either ADHD or a learning disability.

      (The Medical Tribune Web site is at http://www.medtrib.com)