Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Nov;94(11):1043-1049.
doi: 10.1007/s00115-023-01548-7. Epub 2023 Sep 25.

[Epidemiology, diagnostics and treatment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in advanced age]

[Article in German]
Peter Praus  1   2 , Alexander Moldavski  3 , Barbara Alm  3 , Oliver Hennig  3 , Michael Rösler  4 , Wolfgang Retz  4   5
Affiliations
Review

[Epidemiology, diagnostics and treatment of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in advanced age]

[Article in German]
Peter Praus et al. Nervenarzt. 2023 Nov.

Abstract
in English, German

Current studies demonstrate a comparably high prevalence of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in advanced age. Older people affected by ADHD suffer from a severe burden of psychiatric and somatic comorbidities as well as substantial impairment of social functioning and subjective well-being. The diagnostic differentiation from neurodegenerative diseases is particularly difficult in this age group. This narrative review summarizes the current knowledge about the epidemiology of ADHD in advanced age and possible relationships between ADHD and the risk for neurodegeneration. Furthermore, recommendations for diagnostics and treatment options of ADHD in advanced age are presented.

Aktuelle Studien belegen eine vergleichsweise hohe Prävalenz der Aufmerksamkeitsdefizit-Hyperaktivitäts-Störung (ADHS) bis ins höhere Lebensalter. Ältere Betroffene leiden unter einer hohen Belastung mit psychiatrischer und somatischer Komorbidität sowie erheblichen Einschränkungen ihres psychosozialen Funktionsniveaus und subjektiven Wohlbefindens. Die differenzialdiagnostische Abgrenzung gegenüber neurodegenerativen Erkrankungen ist besonders in dieser Altersgruppe schwierig. Die vorliegende narrative Übersichtsarbeit will den aktuellen Wissensstand zur Epidemiologie der ADHS im höheren Lebensalter und zu möglichen Zusammenhängen zwischen ADHS und dem Risiko für Neurodegeneration zusammenfassen. Darüber hinaus werden Empfehlungen zur Diagnostik der ADHS im höheren Lebensalter und Behandlungsoptionen dargestellt.

Keywords: Care; Dementia; Elderly; Hyperkinetic disorder; Screening.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Brod M, Schmitt E, Goodwin M, et al. ADHD burden of illness in older adults: a life course perspective. Qual Life Res. 2012;21:795–799. doi: 10.1007/s11136-011-9981-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Callahan BL, Ramakrishnan N, Shammi P, et al. Cognitive and neuroimaging profiles of older adults with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder presenting to a memory clinic. J Atten Disord. 2022;26:1118–1129. doi: 10.1177/10870547211060546. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Christiansen H. CAARS™ . Conners Skalen zu Aufmerksamkeit und Verhalten für Erwachsene: deutschsprachige Adaption der Conners’ Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS™) von C. Keith Conners. Drew Erhardt und Elisabeth Sparrow. Huber; 2014.
    1. Collaborators GBDA Global, regional, and national burden of diseases and injuries for adults 70 years and older: systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study. BMJ. 2022;376:e068208. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Collaborators GBDMD Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Lancet Psychiatry. 2022;9:137–150. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00395-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms