High risk sexual behavior among young women with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)

Background: Adult ADHD is a common undiagnosed psychiatric disorder. Few data are available on the relationship between this condition and risky sexual behavior.

Methods: A total of 705 women aged 18 to 30 years who sought gynecological care from a University clinic were recruited and interviewed in person between December 01, 2006 and May 30, 2009. Recruitment was balanced by age, race and current drug use. Adult ADD was assessed by an 18-item screening tool, developed by Kessler et al.

Results: A total of 621 women completed the ADD screening questionnaire of which 21.6% (n=134) screened positive. Women who screened positive for ADD were significantly more likely to be white, older, and engaged in more risky sexual behaviors. After controlling for demographics, drug abuse and generalized anxiety disorders, multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that ADD positive cases were more likely to have ≥1 risky sexual partners (OR=1.67, 95% CI= 1.07-2.60), and report trading sex for drugs or money (OR=2.43, 95% CI= 1.33-4.44). They were also more likely to report condom use less than half of the time when engaging in sex (OR=1.68, 95% CI=1.04-2.70). Most of these significant associations persisted even after stratifying by diagnoses of drug abuse.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that adult ADD may be highly prevalent among young, low income women. Furthermore, the presence of this disorder is associated with high risk sexual activity. This suggests that screening of young girls is important so that education regarding healthy sexual behaviors may be initiated in a timely manner.