Injury among stimulant-treated youth with ADHD.
OBJECTIVE
To assess risk factors for injury among children and adolescents treated with stimulants for ADHD.


METHODS
An analysis was performed of pharmacy and service claims data from 2000-2003 California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) focusing on children and adolescents ages 6 to 17 years who initiated stimulant therapy for ADHD. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine associations of demographic and clinical characteristics with injury.


RESULTS
In a Cox proportional hazard model that controlled for background patient characteristics, patients ages 13 to 17 years, male gender, prescription of anxiolytic/hypnotic medications, and diagnosis of a mood disorder were each independently associated with increased risk of injury, whereas African American ancestry and other minority racial/ethnic ancestry were associated with lower risk. Youth with high stimulant medication possession ratios (MPR) had a nonsignificantly lower risk of injury as compared to those with a low stimulant MPR.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings reveal several patient characteristics that may be associated with increased risk of injury among children and adolescents treated for ADHD.
Marcus
Steven C
SC
University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Wan
George J
GJ
Zhang
Huabin F
HF
Olfson
Mark
M
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*
D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants