Prevalence and Comorbidities of Adult ADHD in a Community Sample from Korea
Young Sup Woo 1, Jung Wan Hong 2, Se-Hoon Shim 3, Hyung Mo Sung 4, Jeong Seok Seo 5, Sung-Yong Park 6, Jung Goo Lee 7, Bo-Hyun Yoon 8, Won-Myong Bahk 1*
1Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea , 2Department of Psychiatry, Iksan Hospital, Iksan, Korea, 3Department of Psychiatry, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Korea, 4Department of Psychiatry, Soonchunhyang University Gumi Hospital, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Gumi, Korea, 5Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea , 6Department of Psychiatry, Keyo Hospital, Uiwang, Korea, 7Department of Psychiatry, Haeundae Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan, Korea, 8Department of Psychiatry, Naju National Hospital, Naju, Korea
Received: July 6, 2023; Revised: August 4, 2023; Accepted: August 9, 2023; Published online: August 9, 2023.
© The Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology. All rights reserved.

Abstract
Objective: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is prevalent in adults, and psychiatric comorbidities are common in adults with ADHD. We aimed to examine the prevalence of adult ADHD with several common psychiatric conditions in a community sample in Korea and the association between adult ADHD and risk of psychiatric comorbidities.
Methods: This study used a cross-sectional survey design. We provided supplementary and optional self-report questionnaires, including the Korean version of the WHO Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) short screening scale, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 for screening for depression, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) alcohol consumption questions (AUDIT-C), and the Korean version of the Mood Disorders Questionnaire (K-MDQ), to Korean adults who visited one of six centers of a large private healthcare company for the National General Health Examination.
Results: A total of 17,799 subjects included in this study, and 430 (2.4%) were positive on the ASRS screen. ADHD was significantly associated with the 19-30-year-old age group (odds ratio [OR]=3.938), lower income (OR=1.298), depression (OR=11.563), and bipolar disorder (OR=3.162).
Conclusion: Adult ADHD was highly associated with depression and bipolar disorder, suggesting that clinicians should carefully evaluate and treat such psychiatric disorders in adults with ADHD symptoms.
Keywords: ADHD, Adult, Comorbidity, Depression, Alcohol use disorder, Bipolar disorder

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