Childhood attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may carry over into adulthood in 29 percent of cases, with a higher risk of other psychiatric disorders, a population-based study showed.
Almost 60 percent of kids diagnosed with ADHD in the study had at least one other psychiatric disorder at around age 30, which was nearly three times the odds seen among other children followed (P<0.01), according to a report in the April issue of Pediatrics.
Suicide by that age was substantially more common with childhood ADHD as well, although overall mortality was not, wrote William Barbaresi, M.D., of Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues.
“It is concerning that only a minority of children with ADHD reaches adulthood without suffering serious adverse outcomes, suggesting that the care of childhood ADHD is far from optimal,” they wrote. “Our results also indicate that clinicians, insurers, and healthcare systems must be prepared to provide appropriate care for adults with ADHD.”
The key message is that ADHD shouldn’t be ignored in childhood or adulthood, Rachel Fargason, M.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, commented in an interview with MedPage Today.
“There has always been the question of whether childhood ADHD persists into adulthood,” she noted.
Previous studies from the 1980s suggested it did, but by looking at the worst cases — people who presented in psychiatric clinics — rather than the typical child in the general population, Fargason explained.
The study included 5,718 individuals from the same birth cohort in the area around Rochester, Minn., where the Mayo Clinic is based. They were followed to an average age of 27 to 29 years using school and medical records to look for ADHD and other outcomes.
The prospective portion of the study included 367 adults who had childhood ADHD and could have their vital status confirmed…
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