Adults diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on average die earlier than those without a diagnosis of ADHD, according to a new study in the United Kingdom. While men with ADHD die roughly seven years younger, women with ADHD live an average of about nine years less, the analysis said. The study, ‘Life expectancy and years of life lost for adults with diagnosed ADHD in the UK’, was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry on Thursday. It was carried out by a team of eight UK-based researchers. ADHD is a developmental disorder that can cause difficulties in concentration and problems with impulsiveness. It is commonly diagnosed in childhood and often persists into adulthood. Although estimates vary, studies have suggested that 3-4% of adults worldwide have ADHD. How was the new study carried out? For the study, the researchers examined primary care data for more than 30,000 adults diagnosed with ADHD in the UK. They compared this group with more than 300,000 participants without ADHD, who were matched by age, sex, and primary care practice, according to a report by National Public Radio, an American public broadcasting organisation. “The researchers used mortality data to model what the death rate would be for adults with ADHD across the lifespan of the population,” the report said. What were the findings of the study? The study found that adults with diagnosed ADHD lived shorter lives than they should. Although it was unlikely that ADHD was a direct cause of the lower life expectancies, there were a number of possible explanations for the findings, Joshua Stott, a senior author of the research and professor at University College London (UK), told The Guardian. For instance, people with ADHD are more likely to experience worse physical and mental health and might face problems accessing the healthcare they need. Stott told The Guardian, “We know that people with ADHD have higher suicide rates, unfortunately. They are also more likely to engage in risky behaviours like smoking, drinking and actually binge eating probably as well.” The findings are in line with another significant study, which was published in Sage Journals in 2019. It revealed that children with ADHD who were followed into adulthood had a shorter life expectancy of about 8.4 years. The study also found that “the biggest predictors of shorter life expectancy in adults with ADHD were factors including lower incomes, fewer years of education, a greater likelihood of smoking, shorter sleep duration. poorer nutrition and risky driving,” the NPR report said. The researchers of the 2019 study pointed out that most of these factors were related to impulsivity, which is treatable. The latest analysis also raised the concerns around under-diagnosis of ADHD as it noted that only 0.32% of adults in the study had a diagnosis. This was around one in nine of the likely true number of people with ADHD based on population-based surveys, according to the researchers. Max Wiznitzer, a professor at Case Western Reserve University (US), told NPR, “If you treat the ADHD, if you teach them the life skills that they need in order to work with the executive function difficulties so that they’re modifiable, that lessens the risk of all the complications that can develop.”
