Keywords

idiopathic hypersomnia; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; autism spectrum disorder; narcolepsy; comorbidity; hypersomnias of central origin

Abstract

In recent years, hypersomnia patients and researchers alike have increasingly discussed the possibility of heightened comorbidities, or co-occurrences, of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with the central disorders of hypersomnolence: idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) and narcolepsy (N). While a few scarce studies have investigated a link between ADHD and N, there has been no research on the co-occurrence of these conditions with IH. This study, using data from the Hypersomnia Foundation’s CoRDS Patient Registry, is the first to identify self-reported rates of ASD and ADHD diagnoses by people with idiopathic hypersomnia. Four chi-square tests were conducted to determine whether ASD or ADHD occurred at a significantly higher rate in IH than in the general population. People with IH reported ASD diagnoses at a frequency of 0.59% in the primary ASD test and 1.59% in the secondary test, while ADHD diagnoses were reported at a frequency of 25.84% in the primary ADHD test and 21.84% in the secondary test. The chi-square tests failed to confirm a statistically significant relationship, but the rate of ADHD diagnosis was high compared to general prevalence rates. Further research is required to obtain a more accurate measure of ASD’s co-occurrence with IH. The literature review for this study identified three commonalities shared by ASD, ADHD, and IH: excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), memory and attention problems, and circadian rhythm abnormalities.

Thesis Completion Year

2024

Thesis Completion Semester

Fall

Thesis Chair

Chesnut, Jason

College

College of Sciences

Department

Psychology

Thesis Discipline

Clinical Psychology

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus Access

None

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Rights Statement

In Copyright