Association between history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis and cardiovascular disease in U.S. 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: ) 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. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).