Risk of accidents and unintentional injuries in men and women with ADHD

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It has been reported that children, adolescents, and adults with ADHD are at increased risk for accidents and unintentional injuries. Moreover, individuals with ADHD have an increased mortality rate due to unnatural causes.

The current study extended what is known about ADHD and accidents/unintentional injuries in adolescents and young adults throughout adulthood.

German claims involving 4,575,027 adults diagnosed with ADHD were the source of data for this study. The risk of accidents and unintentional injuries (“incidents”) was determined as a function of gender and age.

Men and women with ADHD are at increased risk for mild (outpatient treatment) and severe incidents (inpatient treatment) throughout adulthood in the form of a U-shaped curve (i.e., the risk is greatest in young and older adults). Women with ADHD were at greatest risk for mild incidents.

Patients with ADHD who were prescribed psycholeptics and stimulants were at decreased risk for incidents.