Athletes with ADHD more likely to choose team sports, could increase injury risk, study finds
The study, presented at the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, analyzed more than 850 athletes who competed in a variety of sports over a five-year period at The Ohio State University. "We expected athletes with ADHD to gravitate toward individual sports, like golf or tennis, where they have more control, there is a little bit more repetitiveness and they don't have to worry about the responsibilities or roles of teammates or opponents," said Dr. James Borchers, director of the Division of Sports Medicine at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. "But what we found was our athletes with ADHD were twice as likely to compete in team sports, and their rate of participation in contact sports, like football, hockey and lacrosse, was 142 percent higher." Researchers charted injuries in these athletes as well, and although there is no direct correlation between ADHD and certain types of injures, there may be an increased risk of injury. ...