ADHD pharmacotherapy and its potential impact on mortality risk

Starting attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication is linked to a significant drop in overall mortality risk, especially from unnatural causes like accidents, suicide, and other unnatural causes.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is known to increase the risk of early death. A recent study examined whether initiating ADHD pharmacotherapy affects mortality risk.

This observational cohort study included individuals aged 6-64 diagnosed with ADHD. The study compared those who started ADHD medication within 3 months of diagnosis to those who did not, monitoring their outcomes for up to 2 years.

Out of 148,578 individuals with ADHD, 56.7% started medication. Medication users had a significantly lower risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.79), 2-year mortality rate and unnatural-cause mortality (HR, 0.75). However, no such difference was found for natural-cause mortality as shown in Table 1 below.

Initiating ADHD medication is associated with a notable reduction in overall mortality risk, particularly for deaths caused by accidents and suicide, underscoring the potential life-saving benefits of ADHD treatment.