Research shows that the main predictors of shorter life expectancy in adults with ADHD are factors such as lower income, greater likelihood of smoking, less exercise, poor diet and driving risky.
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Chris Winsor/Getty Images
A large new study finds that adults diagnosed with ADHD live shorter lives than people without a diagnosis.
The research, published in the British Journal of Psychiatryfound that men diagnosed with ADHD died approximately 7 years younger than their counterparts without a diagnosis. Women with ADHD lived on average about 9 years less.
“It is deeply concerning that some adults with ADHD are living shorter lives than they should,” said the study’s lead author, Josh Stott, professor of aging and clinical psychology at University College London. , in a press release.
ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is a developmental disorder commonly diagnosed in childhood that causes inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. It often persists into adulthood.
The study looked at primary care data from more than 30,000 adults diagnosed with ADHD in the UK. Researchers compared this group to more than 300,000 participants without ADHD, matched on age, gender and primary care practice. Researchers used mortality data to model the mortality rate of adults with ADHD across the lifespan of the population.
“This is a very important paper,” Russell Barkley, a retired clinical professor of psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, said of the findings.
Barkley authored a 2019 study that also found that children with ADHD followed into adulthood had a shorter life expectancy, about 8.4 years, as well as more years unhealthy life. Although Barkley’s study used a different methodology, “we came to very similar conclusions,” he notes in a review of the new findings posted on YouTube.
Barkley’s study found that the main predictors of shorter life expectancy among adults with ADHD were factors such as lower income, fewer years of education, greater likelihood of smoking , shorter sleep duration, less exercise, poor diet and risky driving. He notes that most of these factors are linked to impulsivity – which can be treated.
“These factors – virtually all of them can be changed,” Barkley says. “Change the factor (and) you change the life expectancy. So none of this is set in stone.”
The results of the new study are consistent with other research in the United States and elsewhere that has shown that untreated ADHD increases the risk of serious health problems such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as premature death from injury accidental and suicide deaths, says Max Wiznitzer, professor of pediatric neurology at Case Western Reserve University.
“It’s not the ADHD, it’s the impact of ADHD on the way you live,” says Wiznitzer, who is also co-chair of the professional advisory board for CHADD, a nonprofit education and advocacy group for people with ADHD. “Because you are impulsive, you don’t make the best choices.”
For example, people with ADHD may forget to take diabetes medication or make follow-up appointments with their doctor, he says.
Wiznitzer says the new findings underscore the importance of treating ADHD in adults as well as children — not only with medication, but also with behavioral therapy that teaches strategies for managing executive function problems that are a hallmark of the disease.
“If you treat ADHD, if you teach them the life skills they need to manage executive function difficulties so that they are modifiable, that reduces the risk of all the complications that can develop,” he says .
