Association Between History of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Diagnosis and Cardiovascular Disease in US Adults

Objective: To examine the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a nationally representative population sample of adults in the United States. Method: We included adults aged 18 years or older who participated in the National Health Interview Survey 2007 and 2012, because information about ADHD diagnosis among adults was only available in these two cycles. Physician-diagnosed ADHD and CVD were defined based on an affirmative response in the questionnaire during a household interview. Logistic regression with survey sampling weights was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of CVD. Results: This analysis included 57,728 adults (weighted mean age 46.20 years; 47.66% males). Among them, 1,790 reported physician-diagnosed ADHD, 7,906 had CVD, 4,061 had coronary heart disease (CHD), and 1,749 had stroke. The age-adjusted prevalence of CVD was 19.72% (95% CI [16.56%, 22.88%]) among individuals with ADHD, and 12.09% (95% CI [11.75%, 12.43%]) among those without ADHD. After adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education level, family income level, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, and body mass index, the OR of CVD, CHD and stroke in association with ADHD was 2.06 (95% CI [1.58, 2.68]), 1.88 (95% CI [1.31, 2.69]), and 1.75 (95% CI [1.07, 2.86]), respectively. Conclusions: In a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, we found a significant, positive association between a history of ADHD diagnosis and CVD. Further investigation is needed to replicate our findings and determine the underlying mechanisms.