ADHD Pharmacotherapy and Mortality in Individuals With ADHD
In observational, target trial emulation analysis (n=148,578), initial dispensation of ADHD medicines was significantly linked to lower all-cause (HR 0.79;95% CI, 0.70-0.88) & unnatural-cause (0.75;95% CI, 0.66-0.86) mortality, but link to natural-cause mortality not significant.
Source:
Journal of the American Medical Association
SPS commentary:
An editorial notes this study lends support to extant literature demonstrating that the elevated mortality risk associated with ADHD is substantially reduced among those appropriately prescribed an ADHD medication. It highlights that undertreating ADHD is not without consequences and thus the health care workforce requires training in screening, diagnosing, and treating ADHD, just as has been done for other psychiatric disorders.