A research group led by Project Assistant Professor Hiroyuki Sasaki and Professor Minoru Takebayashi of Kumamoto University found that 446 out of 7 patients (1.6%) who visited a dementia specialist outpatient clinic at Kumamoto University Hospital with suspected dementia had no dementia. He was the first in the world to report that he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a developmental disorder.This suggests that developmental disorders, which are thought to be congenital diseases, may manifest themselves as a result of aging.
Previously, our group reported on a case in which an elderly person suspected of having dementia visited a dementia outpatient clinic and was diagnosed not with dementia but with ADHD manifested by aging (Sasaki H. 2020).This time, in order to clarify the extent to which "developmental disorder patients who can be misdiagnosed as dementia" exist in such elderly people, 446 elderly patients who were referred to the outpatient department specializing in dementia at Kumamoto University Hospital were targeted. conducted a research study.
In the study, a doctor who specializes in dementia first examines a patient to determine whether or not he has dementia. I went step by step.As a result, it was found that 446 out of 1.6 patients, or 7%, had acquired manifested ADHD.
In addition, about half of elderly patients diagnosed with ADHD improved their symptoms with anti-ADHD drugs.In this way, developmental disorders and dementia are significantly different in therapeutic drugs and prognosis, so it is considered significant to differentiate between them.
This study revealed that developmental disorders are not limited to congenital disorders, but that there is a new possibility of manifesting itself after birth, that elderly ADHD patients who can be misdiagnosed as dementia are by no means rare, and that appropriate diagnosis is possible. However, it was suggested that recovery is possible with a high probability if treatment is given.This is an important finding in the medical care of the elderly, and it is urgently necessary to clarify the prevalence rate through a large-scale survey in the future, and to develop a tool for appropriately and simply differentiating developmental disorders in the elderly.
Paper information:[BMC Psychiatry] Late-manifestation of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in older adults: an observational study
