Executive Functions among Traumatic Injury Patients: Comparison of Normal Individuals and those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

OBJECTIVES To describe the executive function of patients with traumatic injury admitted to Rajaei hospital, Shiraz, Iran and to compare the executive function between normal individuals and those with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). METHODS This was a case control study being performed during a 6-month period during spring and summer of 2013 in Shiraz level I trauma center. We included all patients admitted during the study period with impression of traumatic injury with or without adult ADHD. The patients' demographic factors were assessed through self-report questionnaire and executive functions by Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST) and Tower of London (TOL). Results were compared between normal individuals and those with ADHD. RESULTS Among 60 patients evaluated during the study period, with impression of traumatic injury, 29 fulfilled adult ADHD criteria and 31 were normal. The mean age of ADHD patients was 27.16±5.6 years and that of normal individuals was 26±3.4 years (p=0.330). There were no significant differences between two study groups regarding IQ (p=0.191) and education (p=0.396). Patients with ADHD had significantly poorer mean in executive functions in different parts of the test scoring system when compared to normal individuals. CONCLUSION ADHD patients  with  traumatic  injury  had  poor  executive function  compared  to  normal individuals. This might lead to poor inhibition, shifting and problem solving in this population.