Objective: Traumatic injury is one of the significant causes of orthopedics outpatient clinic visits in children. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been identified as a potential risk factor that may have contributed to the incidence of unintentional injuries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between traumatic orthopedic injuries and prevalence of ADHD symptoms in children.
Methods: A prospective study was conducted between September 2012 and June 2013. Ninety two pediatric patients were admitted to orthopedic outpatient clinic of a university hospital. Patients aged 4-18 years were included in the study group. Control group consisted of sixty children who were similar to patient group by age and gender. The Conner Parent Rating Scale (CPRS) and Turgay’s DSM-IV based ADHD and disruptive behavior disorders screening scale (T-DSM-IV-Scale) were used to investigate ADHD symptoms.
Results: Both CPRS and T-DSM-IV-Scale impulsivity/hyperactivity subscale scores were significantly higher in the study group than the controls (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the analysis held within the study group showed that all the subscale scores of both scales in the subgroup with history of repetitive injuries were significantly higher than the subgroup without history of repetitive injuries (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: In this study, the ADHD symptoms were higher in patients, who admitted to orthopedics outpatient clinic for traumatic injuries. For this reason, psychiatric evaluation of patients, who were admitted to clinics with similar injuries especially to those, who has history of repetitive injuries should be made to consider ADHD.