Medication designed to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) causes sleep problems in some children, according to research reviews.
The review, published in the online journal Pediatrics, found that children given stimulant medications for ADHD sometimes developed problems falling asleep and staying asleep. Children who took medication during the day, slept an average of 20 minutes less compared to children given placebo pills.
Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln studied thousands of articles before selecting nine studies to review in depth.
Drugs like Ritalin, Concerta and Adderall caused problems falling and staying asleep. These drugs already list sleep problems as a side effect.
The researchers also found that the drugs tend to cause more sleep problems for boys. Irregular sleep patterns get better over time but do not go away entirely.
To help improve the problem, doctors may be able to switch the medication, or adjust the dose or timing of the doses, as Katherine Kidwell, a researcher at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who led the new analysis, suggests.
It is also important to note that it is common for kids with ADHD to have sleep problems, regardless of medication.
“We’re not trying to encourage parents to stop their children’s medication,” Kidwell said. “But we do encourage parents to talk to their pediatrician if they think their child is having sleep problems.”
To learn more about current ADHD research, click here.
