ADHD Tied to Higher Fracture Risk in Children

MONDAY, April 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have higher risk of fractures than matched children without ADHD, according to a study published April 1 in the European Journal of Pediatrics.

Tomer Ziv‑Baran, Ph.D., from Tel Aviv University in Israel, and colleagues evaluated risk of fractures among children with ADHD. Analysis included 31,330 children diagnosed with ADHD and 62,660 children matched by age, sex, population sector, and socioeconomic status.

The researchers found that overall fracture incidence rate was 334 per 10,000 patient-years (PY) in the ADHD group versus 284 per 10,000 PY in the control group. Overall, the fracture incidence rates were higher for boys (388 and 327 per 10,000 PY, respectively). Among girls, rates were lower in both groups versus boys, but higher in the ADHD group versus controls (246 versus 203 per 10,000 PY). Among the children with ADHD, increased fracture risk was seen for boys and girls (hazard ratios, 1.18 and 1.22 for boys and girls, respectively). Risk for two or three fractures was higher for children with ADHD versus controls (hazard ratios, 1.32 and 1.35, respectively). However, for children with ADHD, pharmacological treatment was associated with lower fracture risk (hazard ratio, 0.90) when adjusting for sex, resident socioeconomic status, and population sector.

“Recognition of the risk of fractures in this population is important to improve prevention,” the authors write.

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