Washington, July 28 (IANS): Medications taken by children to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) offer long-term benefits, revealed a study.

ADHD is a chronic condition characterised by attention difficulty or hyperactivity and impulsiveness where children can do risky activities like dangerous driving, drug use and risky sexual behaviour.

According to the research, the treatment with ADHD medication made children less likely to suffer consequences of risky behaviour such as sexually transmitted diseases or substance abuse during their teen years and injuries.

"ADHD is such a major issue, but no one seemed to be able to give a very definite answer to the long-term effect of the medication. We were able to see everyone who had an ADHD diagnosis and track their health over time to identify any potential benefits of the medication or the lack of thereof," said Anna Chorniy, Researcher at Clemson University, in the study published in the journal Labour Economics.

For the study, the researchers took nearly 1,50,000 children diagnosed with ADHD and compared them with children who did not receive medication.

Those who took medication were (3.6 per cent) less likely to contract a sexually transmitted disease, than those who did not take medication (7.3 per cent).

While previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of medications in treating the core symptoms of ADHD, little has been known about the effects of treatment on health, behavioural and educational outcomes in the long run.