Objective:To provide additional information about clinical features associated with adult ADHD in patients diagnosed in childhood compared to those first diagnosed in adulthood.Method:We stratified a sample of adults with ADHD into patients diagnosed in childhood versus adulthood and compared demographic and clinical characteristics.Results:We found similar clinical features in adults diagnosed in childhood and adults diagnosed in adulthood. Among those diagnosed in adulthood, 95% reported symptom onset in youth. Our results do not support the hypothesis that ADHD diagnosed in adulthood is due to misinterpreting symptoms of other disorders as ADHD. They also suggest incorporating behavioral signs of executive dysfunction into diagnostic criteria for ADHD in adults may increase diagnostic sensitivity.Conclusion:These results support the validity of ADHD diagnoses in adulthood, as these adults show similar clinical profiles to those diagnosed in youth. Our results also suggest that if adult-onset ADHD exists, it is rare.

中文翻译：

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成人多动症：诊断时的年龄重要吗？

目的：提供关于儿童时期诊断的成人 ADHD 患者与成年期首次诊断的患者相比，与成人 ADHD 相关的临床特征的更多信息。方法：我们将成人 ADHD 样本分为儿童期和成年期诊断的患者，并比较人口统计和临床特征。结果：我们发现儿童期诊断的成人和成年期诊断的成人具有相似的临床特征。在成年后诊断的患者中，95% 的人报告症状是在青少年时期出现的。我们的结果并不支持这样的假设：成年后诊断出的多动症是由于将其他疾病的症状误解为多动症所致。他们还建议将执行功能障碍的行为迹象纳入成人 ADHD 的诊断标准可能会提高诊断敏感性。结论：这些结果支持成年 ADHD 诊断的有效性，因为这些成年人表现出与青年时期诊断的相似的临床特征。我们的结果还表明，如果存在成人发病的多动症，那也是罕见的。