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Clinical Trial
. 2020 Dec 28;10(1):22388.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-78627-1.

The association between ADHD and physical health: a co-twin control study

Pei-Yin Pan  1   2 , Sven Bölte  3   4   5   6
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

The association between ADHD and physical health: a co-twin control study

Pei-Yin Pan et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with increased risk for physical comorbidity. This study used a twin cohort to investigate the association between physical diseases and phenotypic variations of ADHD. A twin cohort enriched for ADHD and other neurodevelopmental conditions were analysed. The Attention Problems subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist/Adult Behavior Checklist (CBCL/ABCL-AP) was used to measure the participants' severity of ADHD symptoms. Physical health issues were obtained with a validated questionnaire and were tested in relation to ADHD symptom severity in a co-twin control model. Neurological problems were significantly associated with a diagnosis of ADHD. A conditional model for the analysis of within-twin pair effects revealed an inverse association between digestive problems and the severity of ADHD symptoms, after adjusting for co-existing autism spectrum disorder and ADHD medications. Our findings suggest that individuals with ADHD are susceptible to neurological problems, why a thorough neurological check-up is indicated in clinical practice for this population. In addition, health conditions of digestive system could be considered as a non-shared environmental factor for behavioral phenotypes in ADHD. It supports the possible role of gut-brain axis in the underpinnings of ADHD symptoms, at least for a subgroup of individuals with certain genetic predisposition.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests. S.B. discloses that he has in the last 5 years acted as an author, consultant or lecturer for Shire, Medice, Roche, and Lilly. He receives royalties for text books and diagnostic tools from Hogrefe, Kohlhammer, and UTB.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Twin pairs in analyses of the association between somatic comorbidity and clinical (ADHD) and quantitative (ADHD symptoms) ADHD phenotypes. ADHD attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, MZ monozygotic twins, DZ dizygotic twins.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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