Circadian pattern of motor activity in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

ABSTRACT

This study aims to describe the 24-hour activity rhythm in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A total of 18 ADHD patients and 37 healthy controls (HCs) wore an actigraph for 7 days. ADHD patients showed higher motor activity than HCs at 4:00, 6:00, 15:00 and 16:00 hour. Within the theoretical framework of the two-process model of sleep regulation, the observed data may be explained by lower homeostatic sleep pressure in ADHD. This could lead to an increase in motor activity in the second half of the night, when sleep need decreases more rapidly, and in the first half of the afternoon, when patients do not experience the typical post-lunch dip.

KEYWORDS:

• Actigraphy
• adults
• attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• circadian rhythm
• motor activity

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Giulia Bacchini, Antonietta Mastrandrea and Sandra Mathà for their help in data collection. This study was presented as a poster communication during the 23rd Congress of the European Sleep Research Society, held in Bologna (Italy) from 13 to 16 September 2016.

Declaration of interest

Lorenzo Tonetti, Giancarlo Giupponi and Vincenzo Natale report no conflicts of interest. Andreas Conca has served as a consultant for Lilly and Janssen; he has served on the speakers’ bureau of Lundbeck, Janssen. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.