Purpose To investigate whether there is an association between penetrating eye injuries and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in children.

Methods 45 children aged 3–18 years who were treated due to penetrating ocular injuries (patient group) and 75 control subjects (control group) were enrolled in the study. The symptoms of ADHD were evaluated by the Turkish adapted and validated form of the Conner Parent Rating Scale (CPRS).

Results The mean age was 8.9±4.1 years in the patient group and 9.7±3.7 years in the control group. All subscale scores of CPRS were higher in the patient group compared with the control group (all p<0.05). Gender-specific analyses showed that the boys of the patient group had significantly higher mean scores of all subscales, including inattentiveness, hyperactivity, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder, compared with the boys of the control group (all p<0.05). However, the girls of the patient group had higher mean scores of only the conduct disorder subscale (p<0.05) compared with the girls of the control group. Three of 45 patients (6.6%) and 0 of 75 control subjects (0%) had a history of previous ocular trauma (p<0.05).

Conclusions There was an association between penetrating eye injuries and inattentiveness, hyperactivity, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder in boys, and conduct disorder in girls. An appropriate evaluation of ADHD symptoms may prevent vision loss due to penetrating eye injuries in children. In addition, evaluation by a child psychiatrist of children presenting with penetrating eye injuries may prevent repetition of injuries.