Persistence of ADHD into adulthood and associated factors: a prospective study.

Abstract

BackgroundAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent disorders in child and adolescent psychiatry. The aims of this study are to describe the persistence of ADHD into adulthood and to explore factors associated with persistence.Methods: This is a prospective study conducted in a clinical sample of Spanish children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD. After a baseline interview in which a battery of standardized scales was administered (e.g., Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). A review of the digital medical history was carried out ten years after recruitment. The persistence of the ADHD diagnosis into adulthood and the end-point diagnoses were described. We carried out logistic regression to explore the factors associated with ADHD persistence.Results: Most of the patients (87.5%) kept the ADHD diagnosis into adulthood. Factors associated with ADHD persistence was high SDQ hyperactivity/inattention subscale scores at baseline (OR = 1.197), high scores on the SDQ peer relationship problems subscale (OR = 0.823), number of diagnoses at baseline (OR = 0.490).Conclusions: Our findings show that ADHD diagnosed in children often persists into adulthood. An appropriate transition between child and adolescent mental health services and adult services needs to be mapped out, as a large proportion of children with ADHD will continue to need mental health care during their adulthood.