Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29980754›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2018

Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder is associated with allergic symptoms and low levels of hemoglobin and serotonin.

Liang-Jen Wang, Ya-Hui Yu, Ming-Ling Fu, Wen-Ting Yeh, Jung-Lung Hsu, Yao-Hsu Yang, Wei J Chen, Bor-Luen Chiang, Wen-Harn Pan

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
40citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
4.9field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

40 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  13. Serotonin dysfunction in ADHD.Journal of neurodevelopmental disorders · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.

Liang-Jen WangDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.ORCID 0000-0002-5320-1151
Ya-Hui YuInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Ming-Ling FuDepartment of Food and Nutrition, Chung-Hwa University of Medical Technology, Tainan, Taiwan.
Wen-Ting YehInstitute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
Jung-Lung HsuGraduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yao-Hsu YangDepartment of Biochemical Science and Technology, College of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wei J ChenInstitute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.ORCID 0000-0001-5899-5870
Bor-Luen ChiangDepartment of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wen-Harn PanInstitute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. pan@ibms.sinica.edu.tw.
National Taiwan University · TWNational Taiwan University Hospital · TWChang Gung University · TWChung Hwa University of Medical Technology · TWInstitute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica · TWNational Taiwan University of Science and Technology · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study investigated whether common comorbidities or biochemical factors, such as allergic disease, anemia, inflammation, and neurotransmitters, are singly or additively associated with an increased risk of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We recruited 216 children diagnosed with ADHD and 216 age-, sex-, height-, weight-, and class-matched controls from 31 elementary schools in Taipei, Taiwan. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire was used to measure allergic symptoms. Fasting venous blood was collected and analyzed for complete blood count, white blood cell differential count, immunoglobulin (Ig) E level, and serotonin (5-HT) level. The results showed that symptoms of both rhinitis (OR = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.42-3.05) and eczema (OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.02-2.88) were significantly associated with increased risk of ADHD. Children with ADHD showed considerably lower levels of hemoglobin (p = 0.001) and 5-HT (p < 0.001) and higher IgE level (p < 0.001) and eosinophil count (p = 0.001) than did control children. ADHD risk increased with the number of aforementioned biochemical risk factors present (one factor: OR = 1.87, 95% CI = 0.87-4.18; two factors: OR = 2.90, 95% CI = 1.29-6.48; three factors: OR = 4.47, 95% CI = 1.97-10.13; four factors: OR = 6.53, 95% CI = 2.43-17.57). Findings suggest that either ADHD's etiology is multidimensional or the aforementioned conditions have shared etiology with ADHD.

Indexed as

AsthmaAttention Deficit Disorder with HyperactivityCase-Control StudiesChildFemaleHemoglobinsHumansMaleRhinitis, AllergicSchoolsSerotoninSurveys and QuestionnairesTaiwanHemoglobinsSerotonin

Identifiers

PMID29980754
PMCPMC6035203
OpenAlexW2810109000

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.