People with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who are involved in crime are less likely to reoffend when on treatment than not, a Swedish study shows. Earlier studies suggest people with ADHD are more likely to commit offences than the general population. Providing better access to medication may reduce crime and save money, experts and support groups say. Researchers say the benefits of the drugs must be weighed against harms.
In the UK 3% of children have a diagnosis of ADHD, with half of them continuing to have the condition in adult life. People with the disorder have to deal with problems with concentration, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Estimates suggest between 7-40% of people in the criminal justice system may have ADHD and other similar disorders, though in many cases the condition is not formally recognised. Researchers from the Karolinska Institute looked at data from over 25,000 people with ADHD in Sweden.
Less impulsiveness
They found people with ADHD were more likely to commit crime (37% of men and 15% of women) than adults without the condition (9% of men and 2% women). The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found when people took their medication they were 32-41% less likely to be convicted of a crime than when they were off medication for a period of six months or more.
Dr Seena Fazel, an author of the study and from Oxford University, says medication may reduce impulsive choices and may enable people to better organise their lives - allowing them to stay in employment and maintain relationships. Co-author Prof Paul Lichtenstein says: "It is said that roughly 30 to 40% of long-serving criminals have ADHD. If their chances of recidivism can be reduced by 30%, it would clearly effect the total crime numbers in many societies."
'Personal responsibility'
