The risk of injury in adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A nationwide, matched-cohort, population-based study in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the risk of injuries associated with adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), even though several studies have suggested a higher risk of injury in children and adolescents with ADHD.

AIMS: To investigate the risk of injury in adults with ADHD.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES: We included 665 adults with ADHD from January 1, to December 31, 2000, and 1995 sex-, age- and index day-matched controls without ADHD from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) subset of the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. The Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze the associations between the relevant demographics, and the psychiatric comorbidities and the risk of injury.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The patients with ADHD had a 143% increased risk of overall injuries than the controls after considering all the confounding factors. In addition, the use of methylphenidate was associated with a 22.6% decrease in the risk of injuries in the patients with ADHD.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings strongly support that adults with ADHD are at an increased risk of injury, and imply that methylphenidate therapy may attenuate this risk.