Disruptive behaviour disorder with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a risk of psychiatric hospitalization

Abstract

To evaluate the psychiatric hospitalization among adolescents diagnosed with disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The sample (N=457) was drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. Four groups were formed, based on the K-SADS-PL diagnostic interview procedure: adolescents with DBD (n=44), ADHD (n=91), comorbid DBD and ADHD (n=72) and without either DBD or ADHD (n=250). Information from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR) was used to evaluate the psychiatric hospitalization among the study subjects. When compared with no diagnosis group, the adolescents with behavioural disorders had an increased risk (adjusted odds ratios: DBD=4.4, ADHD=2.2, comorbid DBD & ADHD=5.6) of having also psychiatric disorder in the FHDR. The onset age of the psychiatric disorders in the FHDR (medians: DBD=14.9, ADHD=7.5 and DBD & ADHD=15.3years) and the combined length of hospitalization (medians: 25, 50 and 26days, respectively) differed among adolescents with behavioural disorders compared with those with no diagnosis (median age 12.1years and length of hospitalization 4days). Adolescents diagnosed with DBD (with and without ADHD) are at high risk of undergoing psychiatric hospitalization during their life.