Protocol for an Observational Study on the Effects of ADHD in Youth on Physical Activity

Abstract

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Exercise is crucial to maintaining one's well being and has been shown to help manage the symptoms of ADHD. Sports participation in particular could be an appealing form of physical activity for youth, as sports can make exercise more enjoyable. Given the importance of exercise on the lives of youth, we seek to examine the effect of ADHD on youth engagement in physical activity and sports.</p><p><strong>Methods and Analysis:</strong> We propose a retrospective observational study comparing 647 youth with ADHD with 647 youth without ADHD. The primary outcome is frequency of physical activity. We utilize matching followed by regression-based covariance adjustment to control for potential confounders. We will also analyze the secondary outcome of youth sports participation, and plan to conduct subgroup analyses, stratified by sex and by age group, for both outcomes of interest.</p><p><strong>Keywords: Observational study, pre-analysis plan, matching, causal inference</strong></p&gt