OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between the wake/sleep cycle and the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. DATA SOURCE: The articles were found in the SciELO and PubMed databases, using "sleep", "attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder", "motor activity" and "children" as search key-words. DATA SYNTHESIS: The results of individual studies are inconclusive and frequently contradictory, not allowing the establishment of a clear relationship between sleep and the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. However, sleep patterns of children diagnosed with this disorder are different than those of healthy children. Thus, the possible role of sleep alterations in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder etiology cannot be ruled out. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of biological markers and knowledge about the etiology of the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder results in some difficulties in determining its real prevalence. Moreover, this restricts our understanding of the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and the search for new forms of treatment and prevention. Although sleeping difficulties have been frequently mentioned in clinical practice studies and are already being used as one of the diagnostic criteria for the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, little is known about the possible participation of sleep deprivation in the etiology of the disorder.
attention deficit; hyperactivity; disorder; sleep; motor activity; child