Subsequent psychiatric disorders in attention deficit and hyperactivity children receiving speech therapy.

BACKGROUND

Speech and language therapy (ST) might moderate the prognosis in children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comorbid with speech delay. This study investigated whether ST in children with ADHD is associated with a decreased risk of subsequent psychiatric disorders.

AIM: To investigate whether ST in children with ADHD is associated with a decreased risk of subsequent psychiatric disorders.

METHODS

The population-based National Health Insurance Research Database in Taiwan was used. Hazards of subsequent psychiatric disorders were compared between those who received ST and a propensity-score matched comparison group by Cox regression analyses.

RESULTS

Of 11987 children with ADHD identified from the dataset, 2911 (24%) had received ST. The adjusted hazard ratio for any subsequent recorded psychiatric disorder was 0.72 (95% confidence interval: 0.63-0.82) in children who received ST compared to the matched counterparts. This protective association was only statistically significant in the subgroup that received both medication and behavioral interventions.

CONCLUSION

ST can moderate the effects of integrated early interventions in ADHD children with speech delay.