Psychiatric Comorbidity in Treatment-Seeking Alcohol Dependence Patients With and Without ADHD.

Objective

To estimate the prevalence of ADHD in adult patients treated for alcohol dependence and to analyze the characteristics of consumption and psychiatric comorbidity, in function of a possible ADHD in adulthood. Method: We administered the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) to 726 alcohol-dependent patients. Clinical diagnosis, following Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR) criteria was made in the first four weeks of treatment. A subsample of 297 patients was evaluated using Conners' Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID-II) to test the psychometric properties of ASRS.

Results

After analyzing the properties of the ASRS (sensitivity: 83.3%; specificity: 66.1%), the prevalence of ADHD, in the whole sample, was estimated to be 16.2%. Being younger, lifetime history of cocaine dependence and the presence of an affective, anxiety or personality disorder were associated with a possible ADHD.

Conclusion

The estimated prevalence of ADHD in patients being treated for alcohol dependence is high, and the presence of a possible ADHD in adulthood is associated with an increase in psychiatric comorbidity.