ReviewCureus2026
Impact of Serum Ferritin on the Pathophysiology of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: What Is the Evidence?
Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent neurobehavioral disorders in childhood. Although its pathophysiology is not fully understood, growing interest has focused on potentially modifiable factors, including iron metabolism. Serum ferritin, a marker of peripheral iron status, has been widely investigated in relation to ADHD due to iron's role in dopamine synthesis and neurodevelopment. This narrative evidence-based review aims to critically synthesize and interpret current clinical and mechanistic evidence regarding the association between serum ferritin levels and the pathophysiology of ADHD in the pediatric population. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and reference lists of relevant articles to identify studies published in the last decade that evaluated serum ferritin in children with ADHD. The available evidence included a limited number of clinical trials, systematic reviews, and one meta-analysis, with heterogeneous methodologies and outcomes. While some studies reported lower serum ferritin levels in children with ADHD and associations with symptom severity, others did not confirm these findings. Overall, current evidence is inconsistent and insufficient to support a definitive association between low serum ferritin levels and ADHD pathophysiology or to recommend routine ferritin assessment in clinical practice. Further well-designed, longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the role of iron status in ADHD and its potential clinical implications.
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Registered trials
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.