Accident Proneness in Children and Adolescents Affected by ADHD and the Impact of Medication.
This study aims to ascertain once and for all whether children and adolescents affected by ADHD show a higher risk for accidents, as well as investigating a possible association between the administration of ADHD-specific medication and the occurrence of accidents.



Two exceptionally large sets of data were implemented in this analysis. Participants included children and adolescents representative of the entire German population. Data for Survey 1 was collected through extensive administration of questionnaires. Data for Survey 2 stemmed from the records of a leading German health insurance company. In terms of statistical analysis, chi-square tests as well as logistic regression analyses were applied and odds ratios (ORs) were determined.



Innovative results are presented showing a significantly higher likelihood for ADHD-affected youngsters to be involved in accidents compared with their nonaffected counterparts (Survey 1: OR = 1.60; Survey 2: OR = 1.89) but lacking an overall significant influence of medication regarding the occurrence of accidents (Survey 1: OR = 1.28; Survey 2: OR = 0.97). Frequency of accidents could be predicted by ADHD, gender, and age in both samples. Medication intake served as a weak predictor only in Survey 2.



It has been determined in two representative and independent German samples that youngsters with ADHD are at a significantly higher risk of being involved in accidents. In the future, this should always be considered when setting up a treatment plan to ensure a safer and healthier coming of age without relying solely on specific effects of medication. (J. of Att. Dis. 2016; 20(6) 501-509).
University of Dresden Medical School, Germany hannah.lange@uniklinikum-dresden.de.
Hannah
H
Lange
University of Dresden Medical School, Germany.
Judith
J
Buse
University of Dresden Medical School, Germany.
Stephan
S
Bender
Technical University of Technology, Dresden, Germany.
Joachim
J
Siegert
Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
Hildtraud
H
Knopf
University of Dresden Medical School, Germany.
Veit
V
Roessner
D000057:Accident Proneness; D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017678:Sex Distribution
ADHD; ADHD-associated problems; adolescents; children; pharmacotherapy