Study finds ADHD cuts productivity
Employees suffering from attention deficit and hyperactivity do a month less work a year than staff without the condition, according to a World Health Organization survey.
The findings suggest it may be cost effective for companies to screen workers and offer treatment programs for the disorder as a way to improve workplace performance, said researchers led by Ron de Graaf from the Institute of Mental Health and Addiction in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
An average 3.5 percent of employees have adult attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, which causes problems with concentration and makes people hyperactive, easily distracted, forgetful, or impulsive. The condition is more prevalent in men and in workers in developed rather than developing countries, the scientists found. The research was published yesterday in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine journal.
Researchers screened 7,075 workers, age 18 to 44 years, for ADHD. They also asked the workers from Belgium, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States about their performance. The results showed people with ADHD spent 22.1 more days not doing work than other workers per year. 