Montelukast does not increase the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in pediatric asthma patients: A nationwide population-based matched cohort study

Po Yu Huang, Yao Hsu Yang, Ying Hua Huang, Ho Chang Kuo, Liang Jen Wang, Shao Ju Chien, Ling Sai Chang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been linked to pediatric asthma patients treated with montelukast. This study is the first to use a nationwide health insurance research database (NHIRD) to study whether asthmatic children using montelukast are at an increased risk of ADHD. Methods: We used data from the Taiwan NHIRD, which is a longitudinal database of one million randomly selected subjects. The enrolled patients were followed up until 2013. Patients younger than and equal to 12 years old with new-onset asthma (ICD-9 CM code 493.X) diagnosed between 1997 and 2013 were enrolled. A multivariate Cox regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between montelukast treatment and the risk of ADHD (ICD-9-CM code 314.X). Results: We enrolled a total of 54,487 asthmatic children younger than and equal to 12 years old who had at least one claim of inpatient admission or at least three claims of an ambulatory visit. Montelukast users and match controls were identified by matching age, gender, residence, the comorbidities including allergic rhinitis and atopic dermatitis, admission or emergency department visits due to asthma attack, and index date of starting montelukast in a 1:1 ratio, with 12,806 in the montelukast group and 12,806 in the non-montelukast group. The montelukast group had a similar risk of ADHD (n = 632, 4.94%) as the non-montelukast group (n = 610, 4.76%) [adjusted hazard ratio 1.04; 95% confidence interval, 0.93 to 1.17]. In children treated with montelukast, high cumulative days of montelukast use did not increase the risk of ADHD. Conclusion: This nationwide population-based cohort study reveals that asthma children treated with montelukast were not at an increased risk of developing ADHD. Nevertheless, validation of our retrospective survey requires further prospective study.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1369-1376
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume120
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 06 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Formosan Medical Association

Keywords

  • Asthma
  • Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
  • Montelukast
  • Nationwide health insurance research database

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Montelukast does not increase the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in pediatric asthma patients: A nationwide population-based matched cohort study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this