
By Staff Writer
New research has found that male teens with disruptive behavior disorders have a one-third increased risk of being seriously injured in a traffic crash, either as a driver or a pedestrian.
Their increased risk is similar to that of epilepsy patients, according to Dr. Donald Redelmeier, lead author of the study from the University of Toronto in Canada, Health Day reports.
Disruptive behavior disorders include attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder.
The seven-year study - published in the November online edition of the journal PLoS Medicine - included 3,421 male teens aged 16 to 19 who were admitted to the hospital after a traffic crash. The increased risk associated with disruptive behavior disorders remained after the researchers accounted for factors such as age, social status and home location.
The study authors did not document who was at fault in the crashes but suggested that disruptive behavioral disorders may impair a teen's ability to avoid a crash triggered by another person.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that 9.5 percent of U.S. children were diagnosed with ADHD in 2007.