Mental health

Study: Medication May Reduce Higher ADHD Death Risk

Does this show that ADHD medication can genuinely reduce the risk of premature death or are overlooked socioeconomic factors to explain?

7 hours ago·Updated 4 hours ago

Study: Medication May Reduce Higher ADHD Death Risk

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Above: Ritalin pills in Terville, France, on March 27. Image credit: Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP/Getty Images

The Facts

ADHD medication may reduce the risk of early mortality among those diagnosed with the disorder, according to a study by researchers from University College London and the University of Liverpool published in JAMA Network Open on Monday.
JAMA Network
The Pharmacist
ScienceAlert
The researchers analyzed 19 studies published between 2012 and 2025 covering 15.9 million participants in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Taiwan, the U.K., Finland and Denmark, with individual sample sizes ranging from 839 to about 2.9 million people.
JAMA Network
They found that people with ADHD had a 71% higher risk of all-cause mortality than those without, with a pooled hazard ratio of 1.71 and a 95% confidence interval of 1.31 to 2.24. The pooled all-cause estimate was drawn from nine of the 19 included studies.
JAMA Network
Compared with those who did not have the condition, the meta-analysis also revealed that people with ADHD had an 89% higher rate of death by suicide, a 55% higher rate of death from intentional or unintentional injury and a 27% higher rate of death from natural causes.
JAMA Network
Among persons diagnosed with ADHD, medication use was associated with a 25% lower risk of all-cause mortality. Nevertheless, the authors cautioned that the result came from only three of the 19 studies and that further research is required to determine any link.
JAMA Network
Speaking on the findings, senior author Joshua Stott said they did not indicate that ADHD was inherently a "life-limiting condition." In addition, since the included studies were observational, the researchers stressed that causality cannot be inferred.
University College London
University of Liverpool
JAMA Network

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The Spin

Narrative A

This study adds further weight to past observations of a link between ADHD and premature mortality, as well as the effectiveness of medication in countering this. Accordingly, it highlights the need to broaden access to ADHD screening and treatment, even though additional research is needed for more definitive conclusions.

University of Liverpool

University College London

Narrative B

The study must be taken with a pinch of salt when, by the researchers' own admission, they did not consider socioeconomic factors. It is well established that these are powerful determinants of health outcomes, and their absence overlooks the possibility that they, not ADHD, were primarily responsible for the observed patterns of mortality.