Life expectancy and years of life lost for adults with diagnosed ADHD in the UK: a matched cohort study
Abstract
Background Nearly 3% of adults have attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although in the UK, most are undiagnosed. Adults with ADHD on average experience poorer educational and employment outcomes, worse physical and mental health and are more likely to die prematurely. No studies have yet used mortality data to examine the life expectancy deficit experienced by adults with diagnosed ADHD in the UK or worldwide. Aims This study used the life-table method to calculate the life-expectancy deficit for people with diagnosed ADHD using data from UK primary care. Method A matched cohort study using prospectively collected primary care data (792 general practices, 9 561 450 people contributing eligible person-time from 2000–2019). We identified 30 039 people aged 18+ with diagnosed ADHD, plus a comparison group of 300 390 participants matched (1:10) by age, sex and primary care practice. We used Poisson regression to estimate age-specific mortality rates, and life tables to estimate life expectancy for people aged 18+ with diagnosed ADHD. Results Around 0.32% of adults in the cohort had an ADHD diagnosis, ~1 in 9 of all adults with ADHD. Diagnoses of common physical and mental health conditions were more common in adults with diagnosed ADHD than the comparison group. The apparent reduction in life expectancy for adults with diagnosed ADHD relative to the general population was 6.78 years (95% CI: 4.50 to 9.11) for males, and 8.64 years (95% CI: 6.55 to 10.91) for…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cohort study, done in people. Its evidence level is 3 of 5 (Moderate · trial / cohort / secondary analysis). Trials without a large randomized design, cohorts and secondary analyses give moderate evidence. Reported size: 300 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Improving sleep quality leads to better mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
- Tocilizumab in patients with severe COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study
- A new aging measure captures morbidity and mortality risk across diverse subpopulations from NHANES IV: A cohort study
- Fruit, vegetable, and legume intake, and cardiovascular disease and deaths in 18 countries (PURE): a prospective cohort study
- Are noise and air pollution related to the incidence of dementia? A cohort study in London, England
- Long COVID symptoms and duration in SARS-CoV-2 positive children — a nationwide cohort study
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.