ADHD linked to higher mortality in a meta-analysis of 19 studies with 15 920 970 participants
A meta-analysis in JAMA Network Open found higher all-cause mortality in people with ADHD; medication use was associated with lower mortality. The data are observational.
Researchers from University College London and the University of Liverpool published a systematic review and meta-analysis of ADHD and mortality in JAMA Network Open. The authors searched PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EMBASE, MEDLINE and CINAHL from database inception to July 8, 2025. They included 19 studies with 15 920 970 participants, of whom 36.1% were female jamanetwork.com
JAMA Network Openjamanetwork.comOpen source ↗.
Mortality risk by cause
ADHD was associated with higher all-cause mortality: pooled hazard ratio (HR) 1.71, 95% CI 1.31-2.24. For suicide the HR was 1.89 (95% CI 1.21-2.95), for unintentional or intentional injury 1.55 (95% CI 1.22-2.00), and for natural-cause mortality 1.27 (95% CI 1.16-1.38). The authors report substantial heterogeneity across studies.
The studies were published between 2012 and 2025 and came from the United States, Canada, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Finland and Denmark. Twelve of them reported results that could be combined; seven could not be pooled because they reported outcomes differently or measured outcomes that no other study matched. All studies were observational, so the review shows an association, not a cause. Most studies included more men than women, and they adjusted for different factors.
Medication and study limits
Among people with ADHD, medication use was associated with lower all-cause mortality: HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.64-0.87 jamanetwork.com
JAMA Network Openjamanetwork.comOpen source ↗. This comparison rests on three studies, from Taiwan, Quebec and Sweden. The authors note that people who receive prescriptions may differ in the severity of ADHD, access to health care and co-occurring conditions, and the paper says the result should not be read as proof that medication protects against death.
First author Lucy Corrigan of the University of Liverpool said the findings provide early evidence that medication may play a role in supporting the health of people with ADHD, but are preliminary because they rest on a small number of studies. Senior author Joshua Stott of UCL said a randomized trial with long-term follow-up would be the ideal design, though such trials are expensive and hard to run over long periods.
The authors call for standardized methods and better control of confounding factors. They also call for studies in women, in minoritized racial and ethnic groups, and in people who were maltreated as children.
