Injury and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

doi:10.1136/bmj.a2244

Published 6 November 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2244
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2244

Editorials

Injury and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Monitoring children with early injuries could reduce later risk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The cause of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)is uncertain and has provoked considerable debate. The Departmentof Health in the United Kingdom is currently commissioning asystematic review of its causation.¹ In the linked retrospectivecohort study (doi: 10.1136/bmj.a1984), Keenan and colleaguesexamine the hypothesis that head injury in young children mightbe a causative factor in the development of ADHD.²

Concern has been expressed internationally about the increasedprescribing of stimulants to treat ADHD in children.³ Prescriptionsin England rose from 220 000 in 1994 to 418 300 in 2004.⁴ Internationalestimates of prevalence vary considerably. The American PsychiatricAssociation estimates that 3-5% of school age children haveADHD,⁵ but studies vary considerably from as low as 0.85% ofgirls in the UK to 19.8% of boys in Colombia.⁶ A UK survey of10 438 children aged 5-15 found that 3.62% of boys and 0.85%of girls . . . [Full text of this article]

Morris Zwi, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist¹, Philip Clamp, general practitioner²

¹ Richmond CAMHS, South West London and St George’s NHS Mental Health Trust, Richmond Royal Hospital, Richmond TW9 2TE, ² St John’s Surgery, Bromsgrove B61 7JJ

morris.zwi@swlstg-tr.nhs.uk

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Early head injury and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: retrospective cohort study: Heather T Keenan, Gillian C Hall, and Stephen W Marshall
BMJ 2008 337: a1984. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]