(November 6, 2008 - Insidermedicine) Children who experience head injuries are more likely to later be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but these injuries do not appear to cause the condition, according to research in the British Medical Journal.

Here is some information about ADHD:

•    It is a behavior disorder characterized by a persistent pattern of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity.

•    While ADHD is considered to be a childhood disorder, up to 60% of children with the condition continue to have symptoms into adulthood.

•    No one is sure what causes ADHD, but it appears to have biologic and environmental causes that may work together to produce the disorder.

Researchers from the University of Utah looked at how frequently ADHD was diagnosed before age 10 among over 2,700 children who had a medically attended head injury before age two, over 1,100 who had a medically attended burn or scald without a head injury before age two, and over 58,000 who did not have any major injuries before age two.

Both the groups of children who had head injuries and those who had non-head-related burn injuries were nearly twice as likely as those with no injuries to be diagnosed with ADHD before age 10.

We had a chance to speak with Dr. Heather Keenan, the principal investigator of this study, who offered some further insight.

Today’s research suggests that since injuries not involving the head are also linked with ADHD, head injuries themselves are likely not a cause of the disorder. Rather, these injuries may be an early sign of the impulsive, risk-taking behavior that is common in ADHD.