People with a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder are at higher risk of dying young than those without the disorder, usually in automobile crashes and other accidents, suggests research reported on Wednesday, from the largest study of A.D.H.D. and mortality to date.
周三,《柳叶刀》杂志(The Lancet)上发表了迄今关于A.D.H.D.(attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,注意缺陷多动障碍)与死亡率的规模最大的研究,该研究报告:与无注意缺陷障碍者相比,确诊此疾病的患者的早逝风险较大,他们常在交通事故或其他意外中丧生。
The study, an analysis of nearly two million Danish medical records, found that the odds that any individual with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder died young were still very low, about three in 1,000. But those with the disorder often had companion problems — drug abuse, for example, or antisocial behavior — that increased those odds.
研究分析了近200万名丹麦人的病历,然后发现:注意缺陷多动障碍患者的早逝几率依旧很低,约为千分之三。但该疾病的患者往往并发有其他问题,例如药物滥用、反社会行为等,这些都会增加他们的早逝几率。
Previous research had provided reason to suspect a link between attention deficits and mortality. But the new paper gives a clearer picture of the risks, and the possible reasons behind them, experts said. The study was published in The Lancet.
既往已有研究怀疑注意缺陷与死亡率之间存在关联,并提出了一些理由。然而,专家指出,这篇新论文对死亡风险及其背后可能的原因都做出了更清楚的阐述。
Stephen Faraone, a professor of psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, said the findings should not panic parents of children with attention problems. “But this is a large, well-done study, and I see it as a red flag planted in the terrain, a reason to identify and treat A.D.H.D.” earlier rather later, said Dr. Faraone, who was not involved in the research.
美国纽约州立大学上州医科大学(SUNY Upstate Medical University,位于锡拉丘兹市,又译雪城)的精神病学教授史蒂芬·法劳内(Stephen Faraone)表示,存在注意问题的患儿的家长无需因该研究结果而感到恐慌。“但是,我认为,这项大型、高质量的研究为我们敲响了警钟,并为及早识别并治疗A.D.H.D.提供了依据,”法劳内博士补充道,他本人并没有参与这项研究。
In the study, a research team led by Dr. Soren Dalsgaard of Aarhus University analyzed the medical histories of all children born in Denmark between 1981 and 2011. The team found that of 32,061 who had been given a diagnosis of A.D.H.D., 107 had died before age 33. That was roughly twice the rate of premature death among those without the disorder, after factors like age, psychiatric history and employment were taken into account.
在这项研究中,丹麦奥胡斯大学(Aarhus University)的苏林·达尔斯高(Soren Dalsgaard)博士领导研究团队分析了在1981年至2011年之间出生于丹麦的所有儿童的病史。他们发现,在32061名确诊为A.D.H.D.的患儿中,有107人在33岁之前死亡。在将年龄、精神病史和就业情况等因素纳入考虑后,患者的过早死亡率几乎是非患者的两倍。
The risk was even higher in people who received a diagnosis at age 18 or later, the study found — possibly because of the severity of such cases, the authors wrote. They included researchers from the Lundbeck Foundation in Denmark, which funded the research, and the Child Study Center at Yale.
研究发现,在年满18岁后确诊的患者中,上述风险还要更高——这可能是因为这类病例通常较为严重,作者写道。研究团队还包括来自丹麦伦德贝克基金会(Lundbeck Foundation,研究的资助方)和耶鲁大学(Yale)儿童研究中心(Child Study Center)的研究人员。
But that heightened risk could also reflect a late diagnosis, Dr. Faraone said. Children with undiagnosed attention deficits often go off track, academically and socially, and by 18 may be living more recklessly than their peers.
法劳内还说:这种高风险也反映出该疾病的诊断往往偏晚。患有注意缺陷却漏诊的儿童在学术和社交领域都更容易脱离正轨,他们在18岁前也很可能比同龄人更加冒失鲁莽。
“If you look at the groups of problems that tend to go with A.D.H.D — conduct disorders, antisocial behaviors, substance use,” he said, “only one of these is easily treatable. And that’s A.D.H.D.”
“看看这些经常伴随A.D.H.D.出现的问题吧:品行障碍、反社会行为、物质使用障碍,”他说,“其中唯一容易治疗的就是A.D.H.D.。”