REPORTS FROM THE FIELD
ADHD kids cost more, sustain more injuries
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have higher medical costs than children without ADHD, according to a recent study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers found that children with ADHD had more injuries and more illnesses than other children and total medical costs more than double those of other children.
Researchers followed 4,880 children born in Rochester, NY, between 1976 and 1982 and followed them through 1995 using school and medical records to identify those with ADHD. Among the 4,119 children who remained in the Rochester area through 1995, 7.5%, or 309, met criteria for ADHD.
Researchers compared children with ADHD to those without and found the following:
- 59% of children with ADHD had major injuries, compared to 49% of children without ADHD.
- 22% of children with ADHD had asthma, compared to 13% of children without ADHD.
- Inpatient admissions were 26% for children with ADHD, compared to 18% for children without ADHD.
- Hospital outpatient admissions were 41% for children with ADHD, compared to 33% for children without ADHD.
- Emergency department (ED) admissions were 81% for children with ADHD, compared to 74% for children without ADHD.
- The nine-year median costs for children with ADHD were $4,306, compared to $1,944 for children without ADHD.
Higher costs remained true even for ADHD children without hospital and ED admissions. For the subset of children without admissions, the median 1987 medical costs were $128 for children with ADHD compared to $65 for patients without ADHD.
[See: Leibson CL, Katusic SK, Barbaresi WJ, et al. Use and costs of medical care for children and adolescents with and without attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder. JAMA 2001; 285:60-66.]
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