Disruptive behaviour disorder with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a risk of psychiatric hospitalization

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the psychiatric hospitalization among adolescents diagnosed with disruptive behaviour disorders (DBD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods: The sample (N = 457) was drawn from the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986. Four groups were formed, based on the K-SADS-PL diagnostic interview procedure: adolescents with DBD (n = 44), ADHD (n = 91), comorbid DBD and ADHD (n = 72) and without either DBD or ADHD (n = 250). Information from the Finnish Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR) was used to evaluate the psychiatric hospitalization among the study subjects.

Results: When compared with no diagnosis group, the adolescents with behavioural disorders had an increased risk (adjusted odds ratios: DBD = 4.4, ADHD = 2.2, comorbid DBD & ADHD = 5.6) of having also psychiatric disorder in the FHDR. The onset age of the psychiatric disorders in the FHDR (medians: DBD = 14.9, ADHD = 7.5 and DBD & ADHD = 15.3 years) and the combined length of hospitalization (medians: 25, 50 and 26 days, respectively) differed among adolescents with behavioural disorders compared with those with no diagnosis (median age 12.1 years and length of hospitalization 4 days).

Conclusion: Adolescents diagnosed with DBD (with and without ADHD) are at high risk of undergoing psychiatric hospitalization during their life.

Keywords: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Disruptive behavioural disorder; Finnish Hospital Discharge Register; K-SADS-PL; Psychiatric hospitalization.