A PRELIMINARY-STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CENTRAL AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER AND ATTENTION-DEFICIT DISORDER

Fifteen boys aged six to ten who met the criteria for attention defici t disorder (ADD) were compared with ten boys who did not have ADD in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-cross-over study of methylph enidate. To assess the degree of overlap between ADD and central audit ory processing disorder (CAPD), all subjects were assessed on parent a nd teacher behavior rating scales, as well as a battery of CAPD tests at baseline and after three and six weeks of treatment. Twelve of the 15 subjects with ADD and none of the subjects without ADD met the crit eria for CAPD. The subjects with ADD also responded to stimulant treat ment on the measures of both ADD and CAPD. The overlap in the symptoma tology of these disorders, the finding that the criteria for both diso rders were met in 12 of 15 cases and the sensitivity of both ADD and C APD measures to treatment with methylphenidate suggest that ADD and CA PD are closely related disorders. The implications of these results ar e three-fold. First, sustained attention is a critical feature of perf ormance on CAPD tests and the current diagnostic criteria for CAPD mak e a clinical separation of the two disorders problematic. Second, stim ulants appear to be a useful treatment for the symptoms of both ADD an d CAPD. Third, CAPD tests may be a useful measure of ADD symptomatolog y and response to stimulants.