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. 2025 Jan 23;226(5):261–268. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2024.199

Table 2.

Pre-existing diagnosed health conditions/lifestyle variables in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) versus comparison groups at baseline

Variable Males Females
Males with ADHD n (%) Comparison males n (%) Baseline odds ratio for ADHD versus comparison group (95% CI) Females with ADHD n (%) Comparison females n (%) Baseline odds ratio for ADHD versus comparison group (95% CI)
Physical health condition
Diabetes 359 (1.54) 3067 (1.31) 1.17 (1.05–1.31) 248 (3.72) 1655 (2.48) 1.52 (1.32–1.74)
Hypercholesterolemia 221 (0.95) 1904 (0.81) 1.16 (1.01–1.34) 173 (2.60) 1368 (2.05) 1.27 (1.08–1.5)
Hypertension 353 (1.51) 2794 (1.20) 1.27 (1.13–1.42) 306 (4.59) 2433 (3.65) 1.27 (1.12–1.44)
Ischaemic heart disease 88 (0.38) 677 (0.29) 1.30 (1.03–1.63) 74 (1.11) 489 (0.73) 1.52 (1.17 - 1.95)
Chronic respiratory disease 583 (2.49) 4456 (1.91) 1.32 (1.2–1.44) 204 (3.06) 1488 (2.23) 1.38 (1.19–1.61)
Epilepsy 789 (3.38) 2662 (1.14) 3.03 (2.8–3.29) 255 (3.83) 751 (1.13) 3.49 (3.01–4.04)
Mental health/neurodevelopmental condition
Anxiety 2628 (11.24) 10 198 (4.36) 2.78 (2.65–2.91) 1461 (21.93) 7026 (10.55) 2.38 (2.24–2.54)
Depression 3403 (14.56) 12 237 (5.23) 3.08 (2.96–3.21) 2080 (31.22) 9822 (14.74) 2.63 (2.48–2.78)
SMI 707 (3.02) 1083 (0.46) 6.70 (6.08–7.38) 307 (4.61) 383 (0.57) 8.35 (7.15–9.76)
Self-harm/suicide 2433 (10.41) 4593 (1.96) 5.80 (5.51–6.10) 1265 (18.99) 3086 (4.63) 4.83 (4.49–5.18)
Autism 2401 (10.27) 2937 (1.26) 9.00 (8.51–9.52) 447 (6.71) 217 (0.33) 22.01 (18.61–26.03)
Intellectual disability 1419 (6.07) 2240 (0.96) 6.68 (6.24–7.15) 404 (6.06) 391 (0.59) 10.93 (9.47–12.63)
Personality disorder 486 (2.08) 407 (0.17) 12.17 (10.64–13.93) 302 (4.53) 252 (0.38) 12.51 (10.52–14.86)
Lifestyle variables
Smoking 9397 (40.20) 46 950 (20.08) 2.67 (2.60–2.75) 2812 (42.21) 16 878 (25.33) 2.15 (2.04–2.27)
Potentially harmful alcohol use 1717 (7.34) 8291 (3.55) 2.16 (2.04–2.28) 456 (6.84) 2665 (4.00) 1.76 (1.59–1.96)

Note: SMI = severe mental illness.