Early Childhood Shigellosis and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Population-Based Cohort Study with a Prolonged Follow-up

Eugene Merzon, Yuval Gutbir, Shlomo Vinker, Avivit Golan Cohen, Dana Horwitz, Shai Ashkenazi, Yair Sadaka

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Although the short-term neurological complications of Shigella spp. are well described, potential neuropsychiatric outcomes have not been studied yet. We investigated the association between early childhood shigellosis and subsequent ADHD. Methods: This is a retrospective population-based cohort. Using a large Health Maintenance Organization database, the prevalence of ADHD was investigated among children aged 5–18 years who underwent stool culture prior to the age of 3 years. Results: Of 52,761 children with a stool culture examined, 5,269 (9.98%) had Shigella-positive results. The rate of ADHD was 10.6% and 8.6% among children with Shigella-positive and Shigella-negative stool cultures, respectively (p <.001). Adjusted odds ratio for ADHD after controlling for gender and socioeconomic status was 1.21 (CI 1.13–1.29, p <.001). The younger the child was during Shigella gastroenteritis, the higher was the association with ADHD (p <.001). Conclusion: Early childhood shigellosis is associated with an increased rate of long-term ADHD.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1791-1800
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Attention Disorders
Volume25
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2021

Keywords

  • ADHD
  • childhood shigellosis
  • gastroenteritis

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