Driving-related risks and outcomes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adolescents and young adults: a 3- to 5-year follow-up survey

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether teenagers and young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have more motor vehicle citations and crashes and are more careless drivers than their normal peers.

Design: A comparison of two groups of teenagers and young adults (ADHD and normal) followed up 3 to 5 years after original diagnosis.

Setting: A university medical center clinic for ADHD patients.

Patients: Thirty-five subjects with ADHD and 36 control subjects between 16 and 22 years of age, all of whom were licensed drivers.

Main outcome measures: Parent ratings of current symptoms of ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder, a survey of various negative driving outcomes, and a rating scale of driving behavior.

Results: Subjects with ADHD used less sound driving habits. This deficiency was associated with greater driving-related negative outcomes in all categories surveyed. Subjects with ADHD were more likely than control subjects to have had auto crashes, to have had more such crashes, to have more bodily injuries associated with such crashes, and to be at fault for more crashes than control subjects. They were also more likely to have received traffic citations and received more such citations than control subjects, particularly for speeding. The sub-group of teenagers with ADHD having greater comorbid oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder symptoms were at highest risk for such deficient driving skills/habits and negative driving-related outcomes.

Conclusions: ADHD, and especially its association with oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder, is associated with substantially increased risks for driving among teenagers and young adults and worthy of attention when clinicians counsel such patients and their parents.