Psychiatric Disorders After Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan

Purpose: To investigate the risk for psychiatric disorders in patients newly diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) from two longitudinal groups of children with and without ADHD. Study Design: In total, 1,745 children newly diagnosed with ADHD and 6,980 participants without ADHD were identified from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database in 2005 and followed until 2010. Risks for psychiatric disorders in the ADHD and non-ADHD groups were compared. Results: The ADHD group was 3.82 times more likely to develop psychiatric disorders than their counterparts. The ADHD group showed the highest risk for oppositional defiant disorder, followed by adult ADHD and autism spectrum disorder. Moreover, the time effects of psychiatric disorders in the ADHD group were significant. Patients with ADHD subtypes had a significant risk for psychiatric disorders compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: A high risk for psychiatric disorders was revealed in this study among children with ADHD. Childhood ADHD, the duration after the ADHD diagnosis, and the ADHD subtype were associated with psychiatric disorders. Clinical Relevance: Various psychiatric disorders were observed in children after they had been newly diagnosed with ADHD, indicating a need for integrated care that includes medical practitioners, family members, social workers, and early intervention workers for patients newly diagnosed with ADHD to decrease the risk for comprehensive psychiatric disorders.