Citation

Kuppa A, Maysun A. Cureus 2019; 11(10): e5996.

Affiliation

Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Curēus)

DOI

10.7759/cureus.5996

PMID

31807384

PMCID

PMC6876904

Abstract

The relationship between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the risk of alcohol abuse is widely studied. Even though this topic has been of interest for several years, it is heavily debated. We studied various papers and conducted a systematic review using PubMed as the main source of data collection. We found that several studies put forward the concept of a positive association between alcohol abuse and ADHD symptoms, but a minority of them also showed opposing and contradictory results. We discovered that this inconsistency observed in studies could be a result of a biased approach in studies and a subjective attempt in interpretations. These biases could be studied in terms of sample size involved in the analysis, age at which studies are conducted among other statistical parameters. We believe that the deviations in the outcomes prove that the studies may be incomplete and that a standardized method of interpretation is required. Therefore, this paper recommends the need for further research to explore the connection between alcohol abuse in patients showing ADHD symptoms.

Copyright © 2019, Kuppa et al.

Language: en

Keywords

adhd; adhd alcohol; adhd drinking; adhd drug abuse; attention alcohol; hyperactivity alcohol