Photo Credit: iStock.com/Bulat Silvia
Adults with autism have high rates of co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and are more likely to receive ADHD medications, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Researchers examined associations between health outcomes and ADHD in a population-based cohort study involving adults with autism with and without co-occurring intellectual disability (ID), adults with ID without autism, and adults from a random sample of Medicaid-enrolled individuals from 2008 to 2019. Data were included for 3,506,661 patients. Compared with the general Medicaid-enrolled population (n=1,846,102), of whom 2.7% had co-occurring ADHD diagnoses, the rates of ADHD were elevated in those with autism without ID, autism with ID, and ID without autism (prevalence ratios: 5.1, 6.8, and 4.4, respectively). Substance use rates were higher among clinical groups with co-occurring ADHD, with 13.2% and 5.7% of adults with autism with and without ADHD, respectively, having substance use disorders. In both ID groups with ADHD diagnoses receiving medications, substance use was more frequent, and rates of injury and cardiovascular conditions were lower.
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