ADHD children more likely to be poor

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, June 2 (UPI) -- Poor, less educated mothers were more likely to have children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Swedish researchers say.

Researchers from the Center for Health Equity Studies, a collaboration of the Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University in Sweden, looked at 1.16 million Swedish-born children ages 6-19.

The researchers identified 7,960 children prescribed ADHD medication and tracked their records through other registers to determine a number of other factors.

The study, published in Acta Paediatrica, found a child from a family living on welfare benefits increased the risk of the child taking ADHD medication by 135 percent versus households not claiming benefits.

The researchers also found women who had only received the most basic education were 130 percent more likely to have a child on ADHD medication than mothers with university degrees.

Children were 54 percent more likely to be on ADHD medication if they came from a single-parent family rather than having both parents at home, the study says.

"Our study showed that almost half of the cases could be explained by the socioeconomic factors included in our analysis, clearly demonstrating that these are potent predictors of ADHD-medication in Swedish schoolchildren," lead author Anders Hjern says in a statement.