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

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.