Is there a link between eye trauma and attention deficit disorder? Eye trauma is one of the most important causes of permanent vision loss and has a major impact on quality of life. In fact, even less severe trauma can cause pain and discomfort, with consequences for work, quality of life and health care costs. For this reason, knowing which populations are at risk, in order to implement preventive measures, can be very important.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neuropsychiatric developmental disorder that begins early, during childhood, but whose symptoms persist through adolescence and into adulthood. It is characterised by inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, which impair the daily life of affected individuals.
It has been observed that the risk of accidents and trauma is higher in people with ADHD than in the population without this disorder. For example, studies have shown that there is a higher incidence of musculoskeletal trauma associated with road accidents in people suffering from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This is probably due to the typical behavioural characteristics of ADHD, which, as mentioned, include problems with motor co-ordination, aggressive behaviour, hyperactivity, impulsivity and attention problems. Due to these characteristics, people with ADHD are more likely to be hospitalised for accidents and injuries of various kinds.
Eye trauma and ADHD in adults: the study
Although several studies have been published that have explored the correlation between ocular trauma and the presence of ADHD in children, little is known about the adult population.
A recent study therefore investigated whether eye injuries, like other types of injuries, were more common in people with ADHD and identified the most common types of eye injuries among adult individuals with this disorder.
Specifically, patients aged between 18 and 65 years, with an average age of 36 years, were considered. They were divided into two groups, one with ADHD sufferers and one consisting of healthy individuals, all of whom had ocular trauma due to accidents.
All patients underwent a thorough ophthalmological examination, which included assessment of visual acuity, intraocular pressure, slit-lamp examination and ocular ultrasound. The same assessments were also performed for the control group.
Research conclusions
The results of the study showed that ADHD patients most affected by eye trauma are mainly young males.
The causes of ocular trauma were classified into three main subgroups: outdoor activities, domestic accidents and work-related activities. Similarly, three subgroups of patients were created based on clinical conditions: patients with ocular surface problems (e.g. corneal abrasion or chemical injury), with blunt trauma (e.g. hyphema, cataracts or retinal oedema) and with open-bulb injuries (e.g. penetration, perforation or presence of intraocular foreign bodies).
According to this study, eye injuries related to certain outdoor activities, including sports, camping, and driving motor vehicles, are more associated with the presence of ADHD than eye injuries due to domestic accidents. In particular, traumas would be correlated with certain typical behavioural traits related to impulsivity. For this reason, more careful prevention would be necessary in the case of more risky outdoor activities.
Furthermore, it has been observed that ADHD symptoms (inattention, hyperactivity, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder) are significantly more present in patients with open eyeball trauma.
In conclusion, the study observed that certain behavioural patterns typical of people with ADHD, including impulsivity, could indeed be correlated with a higher risk of experiencing ocular trauma. Moreover, accidents appear to be more frequent during outdoor activities than during accidents in the home.
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