Motor proficiency of persons with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or autism spectrum disorder diagnosed in adulthood

To compare (1) motor proficiency of persons diagnosed in adulthood with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with normative values of motor proficiency, and (2) motor proficiency between persons with ADHD and those with ASD diagnosed in adulthood. A total of 153 adults (median age 32 years, 36% women) participated in this cross-sectional study. Fifty-three persons with predominately inattentive presentation (ADHD-I), 67 persons with combined presentation (ADHD-C), and 33 persons with ASD performed the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2). One-sample binominal tests were used to compare motor proficiency against standardized norms of BOT-2 for young adults. One-way ANOVAs and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare test outcomes between the groups. The total sample showed significantly impaired motor proficiency in comparison to norms in all test domains (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001–0.006), except for fine motor skills. The ASD group showed significantly poorer body coordination compared with the ADHD-I and ADHD-C groups, with a moderate effect size (<i>p</i> = 0.003–0.02, <i>η²</i> = 0.061). Motor proficiency is impaired in most persons with ADHD or ASD diagnosed in adulthood, suggesting that motor assessment should be included in clinical examinations of adults with suspected neurodevelopment disorders. Motor proficiency is impaired in most adults with adult-diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Body coordination is more impaired in adults with ASD than adults with ADHD.Motor assessment of adults with suspected neurodevelopment disorders is recommended. Motor proficiency is impaired in most adults with adult-diagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Body coordination is more impaired in adults with ASD than adults with ADHD. Motor assessment of adults with suspected neurodevelopment disorders is recommended.

本研究旨在开展两项对比：其一，对比成年确诊注意缺陷多动障碍（attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD）或孤独症谱系障碍（autism spectrum disorder, ASD）人群的运动能力与运动能力常模数值；其二，对比成年确诊ADHD与ASD人群的运动能力差异。
本横断面研究共纳入153名成年受试者，年龄中位数为32岁，女性占比36%。其中53名为以注意缺陷为主型注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD-I）患者、67名为混合型注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD-C）患者，33名ASD患者，所有受试者均完成了布鲁因尼克斯-奥瑟雷茨基运动能力测试第二版（Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, BOT-2）。
统计分析采用单样本二项检验，将受试者的运动能力与BOT-2针对青年人群制定的标准化常模进行对比；采用单因素方差分析（one-way ANOVA）与克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯（Kruskal-Wallis）检验比较各组间的测试结果差异。
总样本在除精细运动技能外的所有测试维度中，运动能力均显著低于常模水平（p<0.001~0.006）。ASD组的身体协调能力显著差于ADHD-I组与ADHD-C组，效应量中等（p=0.003~0.02，η²=0.061）。
绝大多数成年确诊ADHD或ASD人群存在运动能力受损，提示运动评估应纳入疑似神经发育障碍成年人的临床检查流程中。