Risky behaviours and injuries amongst Catalan children with ADHD: does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes?
Abstract Background Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) prevalence rates are around 5–10% of school-aged children. We test whether medication use for ADHD decreases the likelihood of risky behaviour (sexual behaviour, alcohol, tobacco, and drug consumption) and injuries amongst children...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Health Economics Review |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-025-00595-x |
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| author | Toni Mora Rowena Jacobs Jordi Cid David Roche |
| author_facet | Toni Mora Rowena Jacobs Jordi Cid David Roche |
| author_sort | Toni Mora |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) prevalence rates are around 5–10% of school-aged children. We test whether medication use for ADHD decreases the likelihood of risky behaviour (sexual behaviour, alcohol, tobacco, and drug consumption) and injuries amongst children aged 6–18. Methods We use a large administrative dataset for the whole population of Catalan children in Spain who were born between 1998 and 2012. We apply a scale that contains alternative definitions of ADHD so that over-diagnosis is also identified and estimate a count data model to explain the number of visits whilst accounting for confounding. Our identification strategy relies on instrumenting medication using an average indicator of the probability of prescribing medication for each most visited healthcare centre provider. Results Our results suggest that medication use significantly reduced the number of visits of children diagnosed with ADHD for injuries but not risky behaviour. This finding is robust irrespective of the considered span or the grace period after including ADHD-related comorbidities as controls. Conclusion In line with previous literature, medication use amongst children with ADHD reduces the prevalence of injuries but not risky behaviours. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4fa10bf6b1274019a33afe0b711d24e0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2191-1991 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health Economics Review |
| spelling | doaj-art-4fa10bf6b1274019a33afe0b711d24e02025-02-09T12:11:56ZengBMCHealth Economics Review2191-19912025-02-0115111110.1186/s13561-025-00595-xRisky behaviours and injuries amongst Catalan children with ADHD: does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes?Toni Mora0Rowena Jacobs1Jordi Cid2David Roche3Research Institute for Evaluation and Public Policies (IRAPP), Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC)Center for Health Economics (CHE), University of YorkInstitut d’Assistència Sanitària (IAS) and Mental Health & Addiction Research Group (IDIBGI)Research Institute for Evaluation and Public Policies (IRAPP), Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC)Abstract Background Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) prevalence rates are around 5–10% of school-aged children. We test whether medication use for ADHD decreases the likelihood of risky behaviour (sexual behaviour, alcohol, tobacco, and drug consumption) and injuries amongst children aged 6–18. Methods We use a large administrative dataset for the whole population of Catalan children in Spain who were born between 1998 and 2012. We apply a scale that contains alternative definitions of ADHD so that over-diagnosis is also identified and estimate a count data model to explain the number of visits whilst accounting for confounding. Our identification strategy relies on instrumenting medication using an average indicator of the probability of prescribing medication for each most visited healthcare centre provider. Results Our results suggest that medication use significantly reduced the number of visits of children diagnosed with ADHD for injuries but not risky behaviour. This finding is robust irrespective of the considered span or the grace period after including ADHD-related comorbidities as controls. Conclusion In line with previous literature, medication use amongst children with ADHD reduces the prevalence of injuries but not risky behaviours.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-025-00595-xRisky behaviourInjuriesPharmacological treatmentADHDDiagnosisHealth outcomes |
| spellingShingle | Toni Mora Rowena Jacobs Jordi Cid David Roche Risky behaviours and injuries amongst Catalan children with ADHD: does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes? Health Economics Review Risky behaviour Injuries Pharmacological treatment ADHD Diagnosis Health outcomes |
| title | Risky behaviours and injuries amongst Catalan children with ADHD: does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes? |
| title_full | Risky behaviours and injuries amongst Catalan children with ADHD: does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes? |
| title_fullStr | Risky behaviours and injuries amongst Catalan children with ADHD: does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Risky behaviours and injuries amongst Catalan children with ADHD: does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes? |
| title_short | Risky behaviours and injuries amongst Catalan children with ADHD: does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes? |
| title_sort | risky behaviours and injuries amongst catalan children with adhd does pharmacological treatment improve outcomes |
| topic | Risky behaviour Injuries Pharmacological treatment ADHD Diagnosis Health outcomes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13561-025-00595-x |
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