What question did this study set out to answer?

To assess the impact of communication disorder status on the risk for common health conditions and its variation by age of onset.

February 14, 2026Open Access

Effects of communication disorder status on risk for eleven common health conditions in the All of Us Research Program in the USA: a cross-sectional study

Key Points

To assess the impact of communication disorder status on the risk for common health conditions and its variation by age of onset.
Conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis using data from the All of Us Research Program.
Grouped participants into communication disorder and typical communication based on EHR data.
Categorized participants by age of onset as developmental (≤25 years) or acquired (>25 years).
Utilized multiple logistic regression models with propensity score weighting to analyze health outcomes.
Participants with communication disorders had higher odds for several conditions, including anxiety and chronic kidney disease.
Adjusted odds ratios for diabetes in those with acquired disorders were 1.64 and for developmental were 1.51.
Higher risks for hypertension were observed, with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.02 for acquired cases.
Findings indicated significant health disparities associated with communication disorders, varying by age of onset.

Abstract

Objective To determine if communication disorders (1) increase the risk for common mental and physical health conditions and (2) if risk varies by age of onset (≤25 years (developmental) or >25 years (acquired)) by using the large-scale All of Us Research Program participant-reported survey data to electronic health records (EHR) data. We hypothesised that adults with a communication disorder would have a higher risk of mental and physical health conditions. Design A retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting Secondary analysis of EHR and online surveys conducted in the USA. Participants We assessed 410 360 US adults enrolled in the All of Us Research Program from August 2023 to May 2024 for study eligibility. We used medical diagnosis of a communication disorder from EHR data to group participants into communication disorder (CD) and typical communication (TC) groups, and age of first diagnosis to assign to age of onset (≤25 years (developmental) or >25 years (acquired)) groups. 234 519 participants (median (IQR) age 57.00 (41.00, 68.00); 3700 (1.6%) qualified for the CD group) were included in the analyses. Primary outcome measures Primary outcome measures were diagnosis of 11 common mental and physical health conditions from EHR data. Results Multiple logistic regression models with propensity score weighting revealed that participants with CD had higher odds for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, asthma, cancer, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, depression, diabetes and hypertension. Estimates for chronic kidney disease (acquired: adjusted OR (AOR), 1.89 (1.62, 2.20); developmental: AOR, 1.26 (0.42, 3.82)), diabetes (acquired: AOR, 1.64 (1.49, 1.81); developmental: AOR, 1.51 (0.95, 2.41)), hypertension (acquired: AOR, 2.02 (1.85, 2.19); developmental: AOR, 1.16 (0.80, 1.68)) and substance use (acquired: AOR, 1.76 (1.47, 2.12); developmental: AOR, 1.08 (0.65, 1.82)) varied by age of onset. Confounding factors are controlled in the analysis, such as age, income, employment, enrolment, sex at birth, gender identity and US census division. Conclusion Our study demonstrates that adults with CD experience health disparities compared with adults with TC, and that these disparities vary by age of onset of CD.

Effects of communication disorder status on risk for eleven common health conditions in the All of Us Research Program in the USA: a cross-sectional study

Key Points

Abstract

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