Growth and cardiovascular measures in hyperactive individuals as young adults and in matched normal controls

Height, weight, pulse rate and blood pressure were measured in 65 hyperactive individuals 17 to 24 years of age who had not taken stimulant medication during childhood and in 39 control subjects matched for age, sex, intelligence quotient and socioeconomic class. There were no significant differences in the physiologic measures between the two groups. Both the hyperactive and the control subjects seemed to have reached their growth plateau by the age of 17 to 24 years, though the exact time the plateau was reached was not determined. Hyperactive individuals who had taken phenothiazines during childhood were significantly taller (P less than 0.046) than those who had never taken medication. This finding may reflect stimulation of growth by phenothiazines at a critical period of growth, but more detailed reserach on this finding is necessary. The physiologic measures obtained in the hyperactive individuals who had never taken stimulant medication provide an important baseline against which to assess values in hyperactive individuals who have taken such medication.