Risk of Dementia in Adults With ADHD: A Nationwide, Population-Based Cohort Study in Taiwan

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between adults with ADHD and the risk of developing dementia.

Method: Utilizing National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan, ADHD patients were identified and compared with age- and gender-matched controls (1:3).

Results: Of the study participants, 37 (5.48%) developed dementia compared with 81 (4.0%) in the control group. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that the study participants were more likely to develop dementia. The crude hazard ratio (HR) is 3.418 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [2.289, 5.106], p < .001), and adjusted HR is 4.008 (95% CI = [2.526, 6.361], p < .001) in risk of developing dementia after adjusted for age, gender, comorbidities, geographical area of residence, urbanization level of residence, and monthly income.

Conclusion: Adults with ADHD have a 3.4-fold risk of developing dementia, and other large or national data sets should be explored to support the current findings.

Keywords: ADHD adults; Longitudinal Health Insurance Database; National Health Insurance Research Database; adults; cohort study; dementia.