Medical and Psychiatric Comorbidities in Korean Children and Adolescents with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

OBJECTIVE: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with a high rate of comorbid disorders. We aimed to investigate the medical and psychiatric comorbidities of Korean children and adolescents with ADHD. METHODS: Data were obtained from Korean National Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service-National Patient Sample (HI-RA-NPS) for 2011. We included 2,140 (mean age, 10.9±3.1 years; boys, 1,710) and 219,410 (non-ADHD; mean age, 12.4±3.7 years; boys, 113,704) children and adolescents with and without ADHD, respectively. We compared medical and psychiatric comorbidities between the groups, and performed weighted logistic regression analyses to obtain odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Most medical comorbidities were more likely in patients with ADHD and included nervous system disease (OR, 2.59; 95% CI, 2.52–2.66); endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic disease (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 2.04–2.15); and congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities (OR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.90–2.11). Oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder were more prevalent in patients with ADHD (OR, 81.88; 95% CI, 79.00–84.86), followed by learning (OR, 75.61; 95% CI, 69.69–82.04), and depressive disorders (OR, 55.76; 95% CI, 54.44–57.11). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that Korean children and adolescents with ADHD are more likely to suffer medical and psychiatric comorbidities than those without ADHD.