Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have lower occupation and educational attainments in comparison to what the would be expected to achieve based on intellect, a study has suggested.

Published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry and carried out by staff at Massachusetts General Hospital, the research compared 224 adults with ADHD - the most common childhood-onset behavioural disorder - with a group of similar people were unaffected by the condition.

The case-controlled study took place from 1998 to 2003 and used the Hollingshead socioeconomic status scale to assess occupational and educational status, while ordered logistic regression models were used to compute the expected levels of the subjects as a function of gender, age and full-scale IQ.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Dr Joseph Biederman said: "Educational and occupational deficits in adults with ADHD are a consequence of ADHD and not IQ, and therefore represent under-attainments in these critical areas."

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