Effect of Pharmacological Treatment for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder on Motor Coordination: Open Label Study

Park, Kee Jeong; Kweon, Kukju; Lee, Saejeong; Lim, Yun Shin; Joung, Yoo Sook; Kim, Hyo Won

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pharmacological treatments for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on motor coordination, using the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ).
METHODS
The participants were recruited from April 2015 to November 2016 from the Department of Psychiatry of Asan Medical Center and were treated for 3 months with methylphenidate or atomoxetine. The illness severity at baseline and 3 months were scored using the ADHD Rating Scale (ARS), Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale (CGI-S) and/or Clinical Global Impression-Improvement Scale (CGI-I). A total of 39 children with ADHD (age 8.0±1.4 years, 36 boys) completed the Advanced Test of Attention (ATA) and their parents completed the DCDQ at baseline and 3 months. The paired t-test, mixed between-within analysis of variance and correlation analysis were used.
RESULTS
The CGI-S (p<0.001), ARS (p<0.001), and fine motor/hand writing (p=0.005) on the DCDQ were significantly changed between pre-treatment and post-treatment. When the participants were divided into those who were suspected of having developmental coordination disorder (DCD) (n=23) and those who probably did not (n=16), the control during movement, fine motor/hand writing and general coordination scores on the DCDQ showed the main effects for group (p<0.001, p<0.001 and p<0.001, respectively). The fine motor/hand writing on the DCDQ has a significant main effect for time [F(1,37)=7.31, p=0.010, Î·2=0.405] and the interaction effect between group and time was also significant [F(1,37)=4.63, p=0.038, Î·2=0.111]. The baseline visual commission error on the ATA is significantly correlated with the changes in the DCDQ total scores (r=0.330, p=0.040).
CONCLUSION
Our results provide preliminary evidence that pharmacological treatment for ADHD improves not only the core symptoms of ADHD, but also the motor coordination. Further studies are needed to confirm the effect of the pharmacological treatment for ADHD on the motor coordination.