Understanding Associations Between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury

To the Editor Asarnow and colleagues¹ conducted a meta-analysis to determine whether attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). They reported that 16.0% of study participants had presented with ADHD prior to injury, a prevalence considerably higher than that of 10.8% reported for the general population.¹ This result is consistent with our previous findings from a prospective longitudinal study² investigating hospital diagnoses of TBI from birth to age 34 years among 628 male individuals. Teacher ratings of inattention/hyperactivity at age 10 years were significantly associated with an increased risk of TBI from age 11 to 34 years. These findings suggest that subclinical ADHD symptoms are also associated with increased risk of TBI.