Natural outcome of ADHD with developmental coordination disorder at age 22 years: A controlled, longitudinal, community-based study

Abstract

Objective: There is a need for controlled longitudinal studies in the field of attention disorders in the general population. Method: In a community-based follow-up study, 55 of 61 subjects aged 22 years, who had attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with and without comorbid developmental coordination disorder (DCD) at initial workup at age 7 years, were compared, on a multitude of outcome variables, with 46 of 51 age-matched subjects without such diagnoses. None of the subjects had received stimulant treatment. Psychiatrists performing the follow-up study were blind to original diagnostic group status. Results: In the ADHD/DCD group 58% had a poor outcome compared with 13% in the comparison group (p