Emergency department attendance for injury and behaviours suggestive of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background The study aimed to investigate if the behaviours suggestive of ADHD were more frequent in a population of children attending the Emergency Department (ED) for injuries, rather than for other causes. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out. Patients, aged 6 to 17 years, attending the ED for acute injuries and other causes were considered cases and controls, respectively. We used a questionnaire, which investigates the presence in the child of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The primary outcome was the number of children with behaviours suggestive of ADHD in cases and controls. Results Five hundred forty-five children were enrolled, 251 with injuries and 294 with other complains. Twenty two out of two hundred fifty one (9%) children visited for injuries, and 30 out of 294 (10%) visited for other causes had behaviours suggestive of ADHD (p = 0.661). Among these cases, children with evocative ADHD scores had a higher probability (OR 4.52; 95% CI 1.45–14.04; p = 0.009) of having had more than five previous ED accesses due to injury, compared to the others. Conclusions This study did non shown a difference in behaviours suggestive of ADHD between cases and controls, but identified a population of children with behaviours suggestive of ADHD who more frequently access the ED for injuries.

Keywords

• Screening
• Treatment
• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Inattentiveness
• Impulsiveness
• Trauma