title: Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, comorbidities, and risk situations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is highly prevalent, and its symptoms often represent a significant public health problem; thus, the aim of this study was to verify emergency situations caused by certain comorbidities, or by exposing the patient to a higher risk of accidents.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature search was carried out in the PubMed database between the years 1992 and 2012, using the key words "adhd", "urgency", "comorbidity", "substance disorder", "alcohol", "eating disorder", "suicide", "trauma", "abuse", "crime", "internet", "videogame", "bullying", and their combinations. The selection considered the most relevant articles according to the scope of the proposed topic, performed in a non-systematic way.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Several situations were observed in which ADHD is the most relevant psychiatric diagnosis in relation to its urgency, such as the risk of accidents, suicide risk and addition, exposure to violence, or risk of internet abuse or sexual abuse; or when ADHD is the most prevalent comorbidity and is also correlated with emergency situations, such as in bipolar and eating disorders.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show several comorbidities and risk situations involving the diagnosis of ADHD, thus reinforcing the importance of their identification for the adequate treatment of this disorder.
authors: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. Electronic address: marcelo_calcagno@hotmail.com
authors: Marcelo C
authors: MC
authors: Reinhardt
authors: Caciane A U
authors: CA
authors: Reinhardt
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology; D014754:Violence; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*