Summary: A new study reveals ADHD increases the risk of sexually transmitted infections in adolescents threefold compared to the general population. However, the use of ADHD medications reduces the risk of STIs in males by up to 41%.
Source: Elsevier.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increases the risk of subsequent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescent and young adult populations by about three times, reports a study published in the January 2018 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP).
The authors also found that short- and long-term use of ADHD medication reduced the risk of subsequent STIs among men by 30% and 41%, respectively.
“ADHD is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder, and affects approximately 5%-7% of children and adolescents and 2% of young adults,” said lead author Mu-Hong Chen, MD, a physician at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital and the College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei. “Increasing evidence supports an association between ADHD and various health-risk behaviors, such as risky driving, substance abuse, and risky sexual behaviors. Clinical psychiatrists [should] focus on the occurrence of risky sexual behaviors and the risk of STIs among patients with ADHD, and emphasize that treatment with ADHD medications may be a protective factor for prevention of STIs.”
The findings are based on the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, which is a nationally representative database of medical claims and healthcare data from > 99% of the entire Taiwan population.
A cohort of 17,898 adolescents and young adults who were diagnosed with ADHD and 71,592 age and sex-matched non-ADHD controls who did not have STIs prior to enrollment were studied.
Adolescents aged 12-17 years and young adults aged 18-29 years were followed from January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2009. The researchers tracked data related to risk of STIs, including HIV, syphilis, genital warts, gonorrhea, chlamydial infection, and trichomoniasis, psychiatric comorbidity, and pharmacologic treatment for ADHD (methylphenidate or atomoxetine).
The researchers found that adolescents and young adults with ADHD had greater incidence of any STI (1.2% versus 0.4%), and developed STIs at a younger age (20.51 ± 4.48 versus 21.90 ± 4.49) as compared to age- and sex-matched peers.
They also found that those adolescents and young adults with ADHD had a higher prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity, including disruptive behavior disorder (13.5% v. 0.3%), alcohol use disorders (1.1% versus 0.5%), and substance use disorders (2.5% versus 0.8%).
Male short-term (HR 0.70) and long-term (HR 0.59) ADHD medication users had a significantly lower risk of developing any STI during follow-up.
In addition to Dr. M-H Chen, study authors include Ju-Wei Hsu, MD, Kai-Lin Huang, MD, Ya-Mei Bai, MD, Tung-Ping Su, MD, Cheng-Ta Li, MD, PhD, and Wei-Chen Lin, MD, Shih-Jen Tsai, MD, PhD, of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital and the College of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Nai-Ying Ko, PhD, of the College of Medicine, National Chang Kung University and Hospital, Tai-Long Pan, PhD, of the school of traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, the Research Center for Industry of Human Ecology, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, and the Liver Research Center, Division of Hepatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan Wen-Han Chang, MSc, of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, and Tzeng-Ji Chen, MD, PhD, of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital and the Institute of Hospital and Health Care Administration, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei.
Funding: The research was supported by the Taipei Veterans General Hospital (V103E10-001, V104E10-002, V105E10-001-MY2-1, V105A-049, V106B-020). Full author disclosures are listed in the article.
Source: Elsevier
Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.
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Original Research: Abstract for “Sexually Transmitted Infection Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Nationwide Longitudinal Study” by Mu-Hong Chen, MD, Ju-Wei Hsu, MD, Kai-Lin Huang, MD, Ya-Mei Bai, MD, PhD, Nai-Ying Ko, PhD, Tung-Ping Su, MD, Cheng-Ta Li, MD, PhD, Wei-Chen Lin, MD, Shih-Jen Tsai, MD, Tai-Long Pan, PhD, Wen-Han Chang, MSc, and Tzeng-Ji Chen, MD, PhD in eNeuro. Published online November 9 2017 doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2017.09.438
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Elsevier “ADHD Increases STI Risk, But Medications May Help Reduce It.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 3 January 2018.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/adhd-stis-8255/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Elsevier (2018, January 3). ADHD Increases STI Risk, But Medications May Help Reduce It. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved January 3, 2018 from https://neurosciencenews.com/adhd-stis-8255/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Elsevier “ADHD Increases STI Risk, But Medications May Help Reduce It.” https://neurosciencenews.com/adhd-stis-8255/ (accessed January 3, 2018).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
Sexually Transmitted Infection Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Nationwide Longitudinal Study
Objective
Previous studies have suggested that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is related to risky sexual behaviors, which have been regarded as a major risk factor of sexually transmitted infection (STI). However, the association between ADHD and subsequent STIs remains unknown.
Method
Using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, 17,898 adolescents and young adults who were diagnosed with ADHD by psychiatrists and 71,592 age- and sex-matched comparisons without ADHD were enrolled from 2001 through 2009 and followed to the end of 2011. Participants who developed any STI during the follow-up period were identified. Cox regression analysis was performed to examine the risk of STIs between patients with ADHD and those without ADHD.
Results
Patients with ADHD were prone to developing any STI (hazard ratio [HR] 3.36, 95% CI 2.69∼4.21) after adjusting for demographic data, psychiatric comorbidities, and ADHD medications compared with the comparison group. Substance use disorders (HR 1.94, 95% CI 1.27∼2.98) also were associated with STI risk. Short-term use (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.53∼0.94) and long-term use (HR 0.59, 95% CI 0.37∼0.93) of ADHD medications were related to a lower risk of subsequent STIs. However, an association between substance use disorders and STIs was observed only in women. By contrast, the effect of ADHD medications on the decrease of STI risk was observed only in men.
Conclusion
Adolescents and young adults with ADHD had an increased risk of developing any STI later in life compared with the non-ADHD comparisons. Patients with ADHD who also had substance use disorders were at the highest risk of subsequent STIs. Treatment with ADHD medications was associated with a lower risk of subsequent STIs.
“Sexually Transmitted Infection Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Nationwide Longitudinal Study” by Mu-Hong Chen, MD, Ju-Wei Hsu, MD, Kai-Lin Huang, MD, Ya-Mei Bai, MD, PhD, Nai-Ying Ko, PhD, Tung-Ping Su, MD, Cheng-Ta Li, MD, PhD, Wei-Chen Lin, MD, Shih-Jen Tsai, MD, Tai-Long Pan, PhD, Wen-Han Chang, MSc, and Tzeng-Ji Chen, MD, PhD in eNeuro. Published online November 9 2017 doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2017.09.438
