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ADHD Athletes Take Longer To Recover From Concussion

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 1, 2025.

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 1, 2025 — High school athletes with ADHD take longer to recover from a sport-related concussion, a new study says.

Those with a concussion took about 16% longer to return to the classroom and 17% longer to return to sports, compared to athletes without ADHD, researchers reported April 29 in the Journal of Athletic Training.

This is concerning because athletes with ADHD are considered more susceptible for multiple concussions, Steven Broglio, director of the University of Michigan Concussion Center, said in a news release.

“It is believed that those with ADHD are less likely to pay full attention to their environment and other players while participating in sport,” said Broglio, who reviewed the findings. “In those instances, they may not appropriately brace for or avoid a head impact that results in a concussion.”

For the study, University of Hawaii researchers tracked the outcomes of 935 athletes at 60 local high schools who received a concussion between the 2010 and 2018 school years.

Of the group, 78 students said they had ADHD. Researchers compared their recovery to that of the rest.

Overall, ADHD athletes took an average 13 days to return to class and 21 days to return to sports following a concussion, compared with 11 and 18 days for athletes without ADHD, results show.

“In light of the study findings, health care providers need to recognize ADHD as a risk factor for prolonged concussion recovery,” Broglio said.

Results also showed that female athletes took longer to recover than males – about 13% longer to return to class and 7% longer to return to sports.

Younger athletes also tend to take longer to recover, researchers added.

“The predicted return-to-sport days for a non-ADHD 18-year-old male athlete is 17.29 days, whereas that for a 15-year-old female athlete with ADHD is 23.10 days,” wrote the research team led by Kyoko Shirahata, an instructor in kinesiology and rehabilitation science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

“From the clinical perspective (ie, physician and other health care providers), this difference may not seem significant; however, from a coach’s, parent’s, or athlete’s perspective, it may feel very important, as this recovery difference may result in missing an additional game, depending on the timing of injury incidence,” researchers wrote.

“Clinicians should be aware of the possible longer recovery for athletes with ADHD, particularly younger female athletes, to provide anticipatory guidance and to address questions regarding the return-to-sport recovery timeline following concussion,” the team concluded.

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted May 2025

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