Prevalence of adult ADHD in patients with substance use disorder in North East India

BACKGROUND: Attention deficit and hyperactive disorder (ADHD) often co-exist with substance use disorders (SUD) both in adolescents and adults. Untreated ADHD can lead to multiple relapses, sociooccupational dysfunction and may worsen the outcome of SUD. ADHD is often underdiagnosed in the adult population. Therefore, the present study was intended to determine the types, patterns, and factors related to drug dependence among different age groups and to estimate the prevalence of adult ADHD in SUD patients in North East India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a cross-sectional hospital-based study carried out in patients diagnosed with SUD as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Disorders, 5(th) Edition. Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (v1.1) Symptom Checklist was applied to screen for symptoms of adult ADHD in the patients. RESULTS: In the age group of 18–29 years, 82.7% of patients were diagnosed with opioid use disorder (OUD), while 63.9% of the subjects in the age group of 30–49 years patients suffered from Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). All patients of age 50 years and above were AUD. Our study showed that 24.3% of the total study population had the presence of adult ADHD. Symptoms of Adult ADHD were found in a higher proportion among OUD (28.7%) in comparison to OUD (11.5%). CONCLUSION: The association of adult ADHD with OUD has been around three times than the AUD group. Hence young people (18–29 years) diagnosed with OUD need to be screened for adult ADHD and should be treated for the same for better abstinence and to prevent complications.