Adults over 50 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were more likely to have dementia or mild cognitive impairment in a study led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
The researchers analyzed health records and genetic data from more than 187,000 participants in the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program. Cognitive impairment was recorded in 6.7% of participants with ADHD, compared with 3.4% of those without the disorder. After adjusting for age, sex and other health conditions, the ADHD group had more than four times the risk, the study reported.
The findings were published Oct. 7 in JAMA Psychiatry. The study was observational, so it cannot establish that ADHD causes dementia. Senior author Tharick A. Pascoal said the agreement between patterns in medical records and genetic data strengthens confidence that the association is not simply a result of differences in ADHD diagnosis.
Researchers also reported that participants with the highest genetic susceptibility to ADHD had a 35% greater dementia risk than those with the lowest susceptibility. The study does not establish why the association exists or whether it reflects a causal relationship.
Elizabeth Landsverk, a geriatric medicine physician not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital that organizational challenges could make it harder for some people with ADHD to manage health care. She also noted that ADHD symptoms and cognitive decline can overlap, and said changes in judgment, mood or social behavior may be more suggestive of dementia.
The source report advises people experiencing persistent difficulties with memory, focus or everyday tasks to seek an evaluation. Its discussion of lifestyle factors is not evidence that those measures prevent dementia specifically among people with ADHD.
