Children and adolescents with ADHD followed up to adulthood: A systematic review of long-term outcomes

Objective: To highlight the clinical and social outcomes among adults who suffered from ADHD in their childhood/adolescence. Method: PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus databases were searched for prospective studies published during the last 5 years addressing patients with ADHD in childhood/adolescence followed up to adulthood. We also included studies published before 2015 reported in other reviews with similar outcomes. Results: 1485 studies were identified but only 39 were included for qualitative and 27 for quantitative analysis. Overall, we found that ADHD persisted into adulthood with a mean rate of 43% and was mainly associated with both substance/alcohol use disorders and antisocial behavior and, less frequently, with anxiety and depressive disorders. The prevalence of persistent ADHD in adulthood reported by studies published after 2011 (55%) was higher than that reported by studies published previously from 1985 to 2011 (34%), suggesting a greater focus on ADHD. Conclusion: Our results highlight that ADHD can be considered not only a neurodevelopmental disorder but a persistent and complex condition, with detrimental consequences for quality of life in adulthood.