Source: ntu.ac.uk
New Delhi: People who exhibited Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) traits at age 10 could be 14 per cent more likely to report two or more physical health issues, such as migraine, back problems, cancer or diabetes by the age of 46, a study has found.
Compared to men, women were more likely to be affected due to the association between ADHD traits and physical health-related disability, findings published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open show.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is marked by short attention spans and restless, impulsive behaviour. The neurodevelopmental condition is commonly diagnosed during childhood and in some cases can persist into adulthood.
Researchers, led by those from the UK’s University College London (UCL) and University of Liverpool, looked at 10,930 people, who were recruited for the 1970 British Cohort Study.
The participants were born in England, Scotland, and Wales during the same week in 1970, and follow-up data were collected over 46 years.
Further, those who were likely to meet ADHD diagnosable criteria in childhood were estimated to have a 42 per cent chance of a physical multimorbidity by age 46, compared to a 37 per cent chance for those without high ADHD traits.
“Here we have added to the concerning evidence base that people with ADHD are more likely to experience worse health than average across their lifespan,” senior author Joshua Stott, professor of ageing and clinical psychology at the University College London, said.
The analysis suggests that the poorer health outcomes were partly explained by increased mental health problems, a higher BMI and higher smoking rates among people with ADHD, the researchers said.
Studies have shown that people with ADHD are also more likely to experience stressful life events and social exclusion, and are less likely to get timely access to screening and medical care, they added.
“All of these potential explanatory factors align with the fact that ADHD makes impulse control more difficult, the need for instant gratification and reward more intense, and is also associated with worse mental health in part due to the social disadvantage people with ADHD face,” Stott said.
The authors wrote, “Higher childhood ADHD traits were associated with more physical health conditions, increased odds of physical multimorbidity (14 per cent), and (a) greater physical health-related disability by age 46 years.
“Participants who had a high likelihood of meeting ADHD criteria in childhood (5.5 per cent) had an estimated probability of 42.1 per cent of physical multimorbidity by age 46 years compared with 37.5 per cent for those without high ADHD traits,” they said.
The study determined ADHD traits based on child behaviour questionnaires completed by parents and teachers when the participants were aged 10, regardless of whether they had ever been diagnosed with ADHD.
The research group had published a study in January 2025, which found that adults diagnosed with ADHD tend to have a reduced life expectancy, compared to the general population.
The findings were published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
This post was last modified on January 22, 2026 6:00 pm