ADHD Tied To Higher Mortality Risk

A systematic review and meta-analysis of nearly 16 million people reported an association between ADHD and a 71% higher relative hazard of death from any cause compared with not having ADHD. The review also reported higher relative hazards for suicide, injury and natural-cause mortality. An association between ADHD medication use and lower all-cause mortality appeared in only three studies and does not establish that treatment caused the difference.

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Researchers led by Joshua Stott, PhD, of University College London, analyzed 19 studies with a combined 15,920,970 participants. Twelve studies provided results for meta-analyses. In an analysis of nine studies, ADHD was associated with a higher relative hazard of all-cause mortality: hazard ratio 1.71, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.31 to 2.24. The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

The review reported hazard ratios indicating higher mortality among people with ADHD from suicide (1.89), intentional or unintentional injury (1.55), and natural causes (1.27). These are relative hazard estimates from the included studies, not an estimate of an individual’s absolute chance of dying. The review combined research using different approaches to identify ADHD, including diagnostic criteria, self-identification, trait measures and genetic risk scores.

In three studies of people with ADHD who used medication, medication use was associated with a lower all-cause mortality hazard, with a hazard ratio of 0.75. The authors cautioned that this association does not establish that medication caused the difference. It may reflect differences between treated and untreated groups, such as healthcare access, illness severity, socioeconomic circumstances, treatment adherence or co-occurring conditions.

Source: rss