Attention Deficit Disorder doubles kids' injury risk

US: Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have a double risk of experiencing severe injuries that need medical attention.

ADHD is one of the most common developmental disorders in children which include symptoms such as difficulty staying focused and paying attention, difficulty controlling behavior, and over-activity.

Researchers studied 4,745 school children to know if the ADHD children's behaviors put them at higher risk of injuries, HealthDay reported.

Scientists asked parents to fill in a questionnaire about their children through which scientists could identify kids that were more likely to be with ADHD or conduct disorder.

Conduct disorder is a repetitive and persistent pattern of behavior in children and adolescents in which the rights of others or basic social rules are violated. It is characterized by aggression, bullying, property damage, hurting animals and law-breaking activities.

According to the report published in Academic Pediatrics, parents of children who scored in the 90th percentile for symptoms of ADHD were nearly twice as likely to report their child had been injured in the previous year. Kids who scored high for conduct disorder had 1.5 times the risk of injury as kids in the 10th percentile but when researchers excluded other elements that interfered with the analysis, the results showed that only ADHD symptoms were significantly associated with injury.

"ADHD is a disorder that's associated with impulsive behaviors children do things without thinking. It's associated with inattention - they're not really paying attention to risks in their environment. And it's associated with executive function - planning ahead, thinking ahead and having inhibition when you need it," said co-author David Schwebel of the University of Alabama. "Children with ADHD are poor at those skills, and that combination of things is leading them to take risks and behave impulsively, which leads to getting hurt," he added.

"You're supposed to look before you leap. Kids with ADHD are leaping before they look," said study co-author Alan Delamater of the University of Miami.

A recent study by Schwebel and colleagues has suggested that children with ADHD are more likely to take risks when crossing the street. Press TV